Slowly Drawn Together
by Chel Bel
Summary: MxL. Betrayal is a deadly thing. It can tear families apart and is usually the start of more bad to come. When betrayed, horrible things can happen to a person, and these things always seem to destroy them inside. DISCONTINUED.
1. A Stranger

Hey peeps! This is my first fic and I'm just so happy for myself! Well is gonna be a Malink romance. I hope ya like! Anyway after you read leave a review pleeeeeeeeease! Make chel bel happy! Oh what am I forgetting. The Disclaimer!!!  
  
Disclaimer- If the world were perfect, I would own Zelda, have a 7 story mansion with 24 rooms, a movie theater, any restraunt you could think of, 10 swimming pools, 5 Jacuzzis, 20 game rooms, food from all over the world, beautiful clothes, 16 cars (even though I'm not old enough to drive yet), a party every Satuday, and all the chickens and puppies in the world. But unfortuanatley, the world isn't like that and I'm just a simple girl, with a simple life. What I'm trying to get at folks is that I don't own Zelda. Got it?  
  
Now that that's outta the way let's get on with the story!!!  
  
********  
  
Chapter One: A Stranger  
  
The bright moon's light reflected off of everything in its way, casting a bright light on all hidden things but leaving others in shadow. The only thing that moved in its light was a young girl who sang through the night. Her voice was like that of an angel's. It soared through the Hyrule sky and was like a beacon to weary travelers, helping them find their way in the darkness. Though she didn't know then, one man and his horse were standing from a far distance, listening to her sing. Admiring the beauty in her voice. She paused in midsentence and gazed out at the stars. The sky was clear to night. Making it easy to see them. They highlighted the whole sky and made everything vibrant. She smiled to herself, the smile taking up her whole face. She could feel a presence up there. A presence warm and soft. One that comforted her.  
  
"Mother..." she whispered into the sky.  
  
The wind lightly blew by, rustling her fiery red hair and her light nightgown. Her blue eyes wandered around the sky. Then she switched her gaze on the ranch. It always amazed her how well built it was since there were only three people living here. That was her, her father, and their hired worker. Still they did get a lot of help from people outside the ranch like  
  
"Link..." she trailed off as she said his name.  
  
Soon all the memories of her first ever childhood friend came rushing back to her. When she'd first met him in the Hyrule Marketplace she had thought it odd that he was the only one who wore green clothes and had a fairy, which was where she got the nickname that she often called him from. Fairy boy. She also knew that him and her were alike in a couple of ways. Both had things that made them stand out. Her bright red hair and his bright green clothes. His visits always used to be long and fun, full of new surprises. But then she began to see him very few times and his visits were rare until for seven long years she saw him no more. Sighing she remembered his last two visits. The first when he had come, taken Epona and freed the ranch from Ingo. And the second when he had become the Hero of Time and they'd held a party at the ranch. She looked back into the sky and trying to hold back tears lightly whispered, "Will I ever see you again Fairy boy?"  
  
She turned around towards her house sighing miserably but stopped dead in her tracks as she heard something... was that... galloping? She turned in the direction that she heard it coming from, just in time to see a horse jumping the fence. She stared off into that direction for a long time. Someone had been watching her? She blushed at the thought and slowly continued to the house as she listened to the sounds of a horse in the distance. Finally she approached the house and cautiously went in. No longer hearing the sounds of a galloping horse.  
  
********  
  
Epona stopped to eat some nearby grass as Link got off her and sat down near the water. Her beautiful voice still rang in his ears. Gah! He missed an open chance again. Lately he'd been doing the same thing over and over. Going to the ranch to talk with her but before he could ever bring himself to say a simple hello, something as simple as how have you been? He always left in a hurry before she spotted him. What was wrong with him? What were these strange feelings he was getting from her? He shook his head lightly and looked at the sky, whispering her name to it.  
  
"Malon..."  
  
********  
  
Well, Whad ya think of the first chapter? I know it was pretty short but um I kinda got writers block ^_^;; Please don't ask me why everyone kept "whispering to the sky." I just think it added a little something to the story. ^_^ I promise the next chappie will be better (at least I'll try to make it better) But please please please leave you reviews! I want to hear from you people!!! Thanks to all of you who read it and the next chappie shall be posted soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! L8ta! Till Next!!  
  
~*~Chelsea~*~ 


	2. Two Paths

Hello! Now before I begin the story I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed. Your reviews encouraged me enough to continue my story and make chapter two. Well for this half of the story we're gonna focus a little more on Malon. Hope ya like! This part also won't have too much romance in it, sorry to disappoint you!! But that will all come up soon. So please just be patient!

Disclaimer- If I could I would dance in a chicken suit in front of the whole school, if it was possible I would drive over one side of the Grand Canyon and up the other side, if I were brave enough I would sky dive into the Mississippi River without a parachute, all for Zelda. But unfortunately I can't, I won't, and there's no way I could do all that. So I don't own Zelda and that's that.

Now let's get started!

**Chapter Two: Two Paths **

Giant streams of golden light ran down one end of the V-shaped path, and darker indigo ones on the other. A sizzling blood red light enveloped the young girl in its blaze, leaving her with a dark unpleasant feeling. _'What is this place?_' she thought uncomfortably, wincing as one of the flames burnt through her dress making a hissing sound. Just as she thought that a golden silhouette of a figure appeared on the golden path along with a darker indigo one on the other. Both had piecing gray eyes that stared right through her and carried in their hands substantial weapons as if ready to fight. They stood there motionless, waiting for the answer they wanted from her.

"Choose now."

She blinked twice turning to the left to see the golden figure glaring at her. He had made that comment.

"Wha- what are you talking about?"

"Choose the path you wish to take; only I would warn you not to refuse."

The indigo one answered this time. His voice was quiet and made a rude snake like sound. Just the sound of it made shivers run up her spine. She backed away.

_'What are these two talking about?'_ she thought, confused. She looked at them both. The golden one held a powerful glare, making her legs tremble. While the indigo one held more of a chilling smirk that made her want to back away in fear.

The flame around her suddenly started to burn even more than before, making her clench her teeth in pain. _'What's… what's happening now…? I'm beginning to feel… dizzy…'_

"You know that flame will stop burning if you hurry and choose." Said the indigo one, still smirking.

Now it was clear to her. She would either have to choose a path or get burnt to death. A twisted feeling inside of her told her to refuse even through all of this torture. What was going on here?

"I… I…"

She unexpectedly began to feel something in her throat. Whatever it was kept growing bigger, and bigger almost choking her. As she started to gag she noticed both figures smiling evilly at the sight of her and again that feeling to refuse attacked her. She couldn't make up her mind. Before she could decide on her own, a voice unlike hers spoke up and refused for her.

"I refuse." It said sincerely.

All were quiet without a noise to interrupt the silence. Finally the golden one gripped his weapon tighter and said with might in his voice,

"You have made a foolish choice. Now you shall perish along with the rest of this land!"

With that he held up his weapon, a sword, above his head as an orange beam started to glow around it. The indigo one mimicked him exactly and soon an immense orb of energy had appeared above them. A dark and cold light surrounded her bringing the smell of death with it. Finally she closed her eyes falling into a dark trance and the last thing she saw was pure, dark black.

--

Dawn's early peek of light shone itself bright through the small crack in Malon's window, calmly letting her and the other citizens of Hyrule know that night was over and morning had finally come to take its place. The smell of dew-mounted grass was sent pleasantly to her as she lightly stirred in bed and breathed in the other heavenly scents of the fresh morning air.

Dawn always seemed to be the perfect time of day. It was breezy peaceful, quiet, calm, and romantic. Just as she liked it. Too bad for her there was really no time to enjoy this since soon she'd have to get up make breakfast and then head off to do her morning chores.

She was often curious to what life in the castle was like. It was certainly better than this. The princess was definitely treated with far more respect than she was and of course she could get whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it. A life like that was wonderful. Beautiful. Grand. That great life that she would never get a chance at.

After a few minutes of relaxing herself, Malon reluctantly sat up in bed and sighed. She slowly stood and walked over to her dresser. Taking out her usual dress and boots she slipped them on and glanced in the mirror. Groaning she put her hair up into a messy ponytail, leaving two strands to hang and headed out the door.

As she arrived downstairs she heard a loud snort from Ingo. She looked up just to meet his annoyed glare at her. She returned the glare and said defensively, "What?"

"Guess you are ending up like your indolent father more everyday, huh? You stupid, lazy wench! Ye should've been up two hours ago!"

"Shut up Ingo. I have as much right to sleep in as you do, and don't you dare call my father indolent again." Malon snapped back with wit in her voice.

Why did she and her father have to hire Ingo anyway? He was disrespectful, inconsiderate and, as far as anyone could see, just a plain jerk. The only good thing about him was he could take care of the animals in a decent manner. Other than that there was nothing she liked about him.

Once again Ingo snorted and mumbled something under his breath before going back to the stables, forgetting about his own appetite. Malon quickly looked around the kitchen again before deciding that she wasn't too hungry either. After a minute of gathering a handful of buckets and grains, she hastily sprinted out the doors and went on to tend to her favorite animals. The horses.

--

"Dad I'm going out for a while. I should be back around noon." Malon said almost halfway out the door, heading toward the stables to get her horse. Without waiting for her father's reply she rushed over to the stables and burst in, startling most of the horses. She looked down the rows of horses pointing her finger at each as she tried to decide which horse she would like to take.

"Well Robert is too old, and tired. But Siara won't do anything I tell her to do. Hmm…"

She looked around a bit more and then in the corner she saw the exact mare that she wanted.

"Scarlet, there you are girl. I missed you."

Malon ran to the horse and hugged her tightly and gently. The mare whom she called Scarlet looked almost the same as Epona and for that reason Malon loved her. She was sweet, gentle, strong and a little shy like Epona too. Malon could've sworn that they were relatives.

She quickly unlatched the door that kept them separated and brought Scarlet out of the stables and next to the house. Scarlet obediently stood where she was as Malon saddled her up. Just as she was finishing up on that Talon suddenly emerged from the house doors.

"Malon, think you could uh… do a couple errands for me? It won't take long."

Malon climbed up on Scarlet. "Sorry dad, but I have somewhere to go. I'll get back to you on it later."

Talon sighed. "All right Malon. Where'd you say you were going again?"

"I'm just going… out."

"Mmm all right then." With that said Malon rode out into the open fields of Hyrule not knowing what to expect".

Finally she had a break from all her hard work. Of course Ingo had been pissed when she told him she was going out but it wasn't like she cared. She deserved a break and she knew it.

As she neared the market she frowned and decided that there probably wasn't anything good she could buy there. Thirty rupees wouldn't buy you too much of anything good anymore. She turned Scarlet around to let her lead them. She smiled at the ranch in awe as she looked back towards it. Golden glints of the sunset were set upon it with a mixture of light orange and lavender. It was truly beautiful.

She sadly remembered a time when she was younger, before her mother had left her, when she her mother, and their old horse Robert came out to watch the sunset. It had been an amazing sight to see, especially for Malon since it was the first time she had ever come all the way out here to see it. She remembered jumping in delight and surprise when she first saw it and the way her mother had laughed at this. But now it was only her here. Her and Scarlet.

She looked ahead of her curious to where Scarlet was leading them, but Scarlet didn't seem to know where she was going either. Every few seconds she'd stop and look around then turn to go somewhere else.

"Come on girl," Malon said scratching lightly behind Scarlet's ears. "We have to find something to do. After all this is our break."

Scarlet neighed as if to agree with Malon and began to walk on in one simple direction.

The light tapping of Scarlet's hoofs soon sent Malon into her thoughts again. But she wouldn't be able to think for too long, because next the unexplainable would happen. The first thing that would change Malon's life forever.

A few minutes later she had been deep in thought about her mother when suddenly out of the corner of her eye, Malon saw a bright orange flash and a black one directly after that. She turned toward both and looked around. What had that been? Instead of trying to figure it out she decided to ignore it settling with the thought that it was just her imagination.

Once she was ready to leave she saw it again and blinked twice. It couldn't have been her imagination this time could it? She slowly stared off in that direction, thinking, when the same thing alarmed her again. Eventually she started to get suspicious. Cautiously turning Scarlet in the same direction it had been coming from, she began to wonder if what she was doing was really the right thing.

When they finally reached their destination Scarlet immediately began to react to a strange smell that seemed to hang around in the air. She waved her head around wildly and kicked frantically at the air. It was no use trying to calm her down. There was no stopping her.

Malon cautiously got off Scarlet unsure of what was going on. Why was Scarlet acting this way? Suddenly there it was. A blinding golden light. It slowly faded away and left behind it was a strange figure with piercing gray eyes… Wait… It couldn't be…

**--Flashback--**

In an instant a golden silhouetted figure appeared at the lighter side of the path along with a darker blackish one on the other side. Both had piercing gray eyes that stared right through her and carried in their hands substantial weapons, as if ready to fight. They stood there motionless waiting for the answer they wanted.

--**End Flashback--**

Malon's jaw dropped broadly as she stood there staring at him. It just wasn't real. How could it be? She slowly crept closer to him to get a better look. But he immediately saw her and took off running. Before she could stop herself she soon found that she was running after him. He quickly led them into the woods making it more and more difficult for her to keep up. There was no doubt about it; he was trying to lead her somewhere but… why? And where did he want to take her?

After five minuets of chasing him and trying her best to keep up, they finally arrived at a large clearing. Surrounding them were tremendous trees that would only let a few glints of light peek through them. There was a long silence, until the figure finally turned around and gave her a devious grin. She stared at him with confusion in her azure eyes. What was he going to do now?

Suddenly the black flash she had just saw earlier appeared in the corner of her eye and, just as she had suspected, another figure, blue this time, stood in its place when the light disappeared.

They each stood on a side of her and snickered. She looked at them one after the other. At last the golden one nodded and the blue one did the same back to him. They both turned to Malon, and then prepared to attack.

--

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Heh, how do ya like that cliffhanger? A dumb action attempt will be in the next chappie Anyways I have a few things to say so listen up. Firstly I did not intend for this chappie to take so long in to post. But jeez ya can't blame me. When you have psycho teachers that give out way to much homework like mine then maybe you'll understand, maybe. But still I have to apologize to the people who've waited the longest (you know who you are ;;) and also I was aware that there were spelling mistakes in chappie 1 and I fixed them thanx anyways for pointing it out (you know who you are ) One other thing I won't promise you that chappie 3 will be up too soon after what happen with this one (Yeah I know it took like over a month for this to get posted up but lucky for me I don't have muses ). And that's all for my babble! Now go and review please. There's no point in reading if you're not going to review!

Till next!!

_--__Chelsea--_


	3. Odd Apearances and Familiar Faces

Hi peoples! I'm back. No I wasn't dead, in case u were wonderin. Well first off I want to say thanx to the peoples that reviewed. Luv ya all Oh ya! This chappie will probably be much better than the others. Cause guess who's gonna be in it? Nope I'm not telling you here. I'm sure you probably have a good idea of who I'm talking about anyway. For the first part I'm attempting to do some actiony whatever scene, and NO laughing at me about it. This is my first time and I don't think I'm as good at action as I am with romance…… but if you have any tips for me on how to improve it then just tell me! Well this chapter will have a lil bit more romance, a lot of talking, and two original characters made by yours truly . What am I doing? You don't wanna hear my babble I'll shut up now.

**Aurvandil**- Heh, heh, heh… Uh, whoa. I didn't know my grammar was that bad ;; Eh I'll work on it and when I get off my lazy butt someday I'll fix those errors you pointed out Thanx

**Fearless Malon**- I am evil I know. What? Cliff hangers are fun! I just can't help it! And besides when are YOU going to update YOUR story? Huh? Huh? -

Disclaimer- I love Zelda. It's a great game and all but do you really think someone with a mind like mine could make it? Well of course I could!... but some other guy beat me to it so there :(

Let's begin!

**Chapter Three: Odd Appearances and Familiar Faces**

In those few moments that Malon had been standing she had never been as frightened as she was now. Her heart had stopped. She couldn't move. She was frozen. After this everything that had happened here would become a blur to her, a distant memory in the back of her mind.

As the golden one lunged straight for her, the indigo one held back, as if not wanting to fight. But that soon changed as she was tackled to the ground by the golden one that kept her pinned there so forcefully, she felt as is she were stunned. He slowly got off her and extended his right hand in the air. Golden sparks of light began to find their way around it, forming a giant spear like object. He slowly lowered his hand down gripping the spear he created and pointed a finger from his other hand towards Malon.

"Her." he whispered to it.

Malon tried her best to remove her body from the ground. But it was no use. She was stuck. She then noticed small golden rings that kept her arms and legs pinned to the ground. What was happening? She struggled against the pull that kept her there tight. Still nothing she did would work. She was stuck here for good.

At the sight of this all the indigo one held an odd unreadable expression. He turned away from the scene and focused on something else. Still when the golden one turned to him and waited for a response, he nodded and immediately the golden one turned back to Malon. He grinned icily at her and said,

"Goodbye."

Instantly the spear headed straight for Malon and hit her. The feeling to Malon was horrible. It felt as if millions of tiny daggers were stabbing her throughout her entire body. It went straight through her, and the blood poured from her stomach and on to the ground. A strong force then started to grow inside her body. It weakened everything inside her that made her want to resist. Before she knew it her eyes became clouded and blurry. And slowly she fell into a dark trance that made her pass out. She just lye there, motionless.

"That was easier than I thought. That boy… I guess he didn't get in the way after all. It's a good thing she doesn't know about it yet." Said the golden one grinning, "You know what to do with her. I've got other business to tend to." Without caring to see the indigo one's reaction he disappeared. There was a long pause until he spoke up.

"Sleep peacefully young one."

He extended his arms widely, and slowly dark gray ice crystals appeared and began to surround her, dancing around her body in a ceremonial like way. Soon they stopped and without warning shot icicle like objects at her body. They cleared up all the blood and disappeared into her body. In return her body thankfully took them in, accepting each one. After a minute of the same thing it stopped and all the crystals disappeared, flowing back into the indigo one's body. He stepped beside Malon and stared at her, then slowly he walked away into the darkness.

--

**At mid day…**

"Zuku! Come over here! Look what I found!"

"What is it Maku? Oh… a girl… so what."

"Isn't she pretty?! Hey, you think master would let us bring her home?"

"…No."

"Please Zuku! I think she will be fun to play with!"

"Shut up Maku. We're here to look for food, not kid around."

"But she is sooooooooooooooooooo pretty! Please can we take her?! Please! Please! PLEASE!!!"

"Maku you're an idiot. But if you're that set on taking her then be my guest."

"Great! Will you help me carry her?"

"No."

"Pleaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!!!!!!"

"It's a waste of my time. I've got other things to do Maku."

"Please! Please! Please! Please Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Pleases! Please! Plea—

"FINE MAKU! Just will you PLEASE shut up!"

"Ok… um let's go now!"

"Whatever…"

--

The vast and open forest seemed to be tired on a day like this. It was hot and humid. Possibly one of the worst combinations of all. Flies buzzed all around it, busying themselves with what they could. There was no sign of life other than that what so ever. But suddenly out of the stillness of the forest came two small boys. Both walking briskly, stopping just for a few minutes to rest but then getting right back up and scurrying on down the path again. They seemed to be carrying something in their arms. Another person it looked like. But you couldn't be too sure seeing the way they treated it.

"ZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! Come on, we have to hurry! I want to show master what we have! You must hurry! Are you really that slow?!"

Zuku slowly turned his attention away from the juicy berries he had been staring at and glared at Maku. That was it. His stupid brother had to be taught a lesson.

"Shut up," he replied in that I'm-pissed-at-you-so-leave-me-alone voice, "Just shut up Maku. All you ever do is talk and say senseless thing. You're always making up and playing your stupid games that always seem to get us in trouble. But now I've got a game for you. The rules are you don't talk, got it? Now please just shut up and don't talk to me."

Maku in return stared at him for a very long time. He didn't do anything he just… stared. Awkwardness passed through both boys as they stared each other down. Zuku shifted uncomfortably in this position. He really didn't mean to hurt Maku but had he?

"Is the game over yet Zuku? This is getting very boring." Maku said.

Zuku fell over.

As they traveled farther into the forest they finally came to a small clearing. Tall trees surrounded them, letting in little, almost no, sunlight, but just enough so they could see. A large stream was to the left of them along with a small tent in the center. To the far right were baskets of fruit and other various things.

"Master! We're home! Come out, come out wherever you are!" Maku's loud voice rang throughout the entire forest, disturbing all the silence and stillness and making a nearby flock of birds retreat to their home.

"Be quiet Maku. Master probably went somewhere while we were out." Said Zuku matter-of-factly.

"… Oh." Maku said then looked back at the girl.

Zuku sighed and layed the girl down with the help of Maku. Maku was right about one thing, he decided, she sure was pretty. She had bright red hair and a gentle delicate face. She looked like she was okay, yet…….… the seemed to be something about her that disturbed him. He decided to shrug it off for now.

Maku quickly ran over to the stream, gathering a large handful of water in his hands and bringing it back over to her. Without thinking he dumped it all over her face. She in result to this all shivered while a strange image in her mind appeared.

--A light blue cool mist slowly wrapped around her, calming her and freeing her of all her worries. It gently licked her wounds, healing them. After that she slowly began to rise. Up, up, until…--

With a sudden jolt she was awake in a flash. Malon looked aimlessly around her, from one person to the next. Where was she? Who were these people anyway?

Zuku and Maku both looked her in the eye, Maku smiling strangely and Zuku just staring. She looked at both oddly. What did they want? She had to find out what was going on here.

"W- where am I? And wh- who are you?" she stuttered nervously.

"Uh… I'm Zuku, this is Maku and you are in the Zakiri forest." (**A/N **yep people I did make that up)

Malon looked at both boys peculiarly. The Zakiri forest? She had never heard of any such thing.

"Well I'm Malon. How did I get here?" Zuku shrugged.

"I dunno. We just found you lying around in the forest and it was his idea to bring you back here."

"Oh…" she sighed heavily.

Are you married?" Maku suddenly asked unexpectedly.

"What?" The question tackled Malon so suddenly she hadn't even had enough time to fully understand it.

"Are you married?" He repeated.

"Uh… well no."

He smiled and moved closer to her face. "Our master isn't either. But I think he wants to get married even though he says he doesn't." He continued to move in closer to her face, beginning to frighten the poor girl. "You're really pretty. Do you have a boyfriend?"

Malon blushed but shook her head. "No."

"Wow! Our master doesn't either! Err… I mean he doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Oh and who is your master?" Malon asked curiously.

"Well," Maku began, "He's big, and strong, and he always wears a green hat, well sometimes red or blue or… yeah… and he has a sword, and—

"Green hat… sword…" Malon inturupted. She stood and ran her hands through her hair. "Odd he sounds just like a friend I had a long time ago." She looked down sadly remembering him.

"Well maybe it is him!" Maku said brightly. "What's his name?"

"That doesn't matter. Let's just call him fairy boy for now."

"Fairy boy?" Maku said making a face.

"Yes fairy boy. I nicknamed him that because he always had a fairy following him around." Malon said defensively.

"Hmmm…" Maku scratched his chin for a while and suddenly said, "Oooooooooooh tell us about him! We want to know more! We want to know more! Right Zuku?"

Zuku rolled his eyes. "Right."

"Well… I suppose I could…" Malon began.

"Oh please do!" Maku begged.

Malon sighed and sat back down. "All right. Well it started when I was about ten. I remember I was in the market waiting for my dad to get back from delivering milk at the castle." She smiled to herself as all the memories came flooding back to her mind. "Well anyway when I was standing there I saw a little fairy floating around. She looked as if she were lost. I was about to go over and talk to her and when out of nowhere I saw a young boy wearing green go up to her and talk to her and then they started saying some things to each other. Most likely they were arguing. As he walked by me I asked him what his name was and if he was from around here. He said he was from the Kokiri forest."

"Hmmm…" Maku and Zuku exchanged glances, but Malon didn't seem to notice. She continued on.

"We began to talk and get to know each other for a while and then he said he had to go to the castle to see the princess, and he ran off. I didn't think I'd ever see him again, so I was really surprised when he came to the ranch a couple of days later. I recall showing him my favorite horse, Epona." Once again Maku and Zuku glanced at each other unnoticed by Malon. "He and she quickly became fond of each other. After that we saw each other a lot…but then…" She stopped for a moment but as soon as she noticed them staring she went on. "He began to come fewer and fewer times… and then finally after seven long years… seven long years of pain and suffering… he came back…and he acted like it was nothing… he acted like nothing had ever happened… I just don't understand how he could do that." It was hard to hold back the tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She stared off at the ground, hoping they wouldn't notice her tears.

"Oh so that's how it happened." Zuku said looking away. He seemed to be thinking something. Malon had begun weeping lightly, but was hidden by her hair so they couldn't see her. She went on.

"I've only seen him twice since then. But still I hardly had a chance to even talk to him. I guess he's just too busy to notice me right now. Maybe I should just forget about him…" Malon was beginning to space out.

"I don't think he's forgotten about you Malon." Zuku said looking her right in the eye. "In fact I think he really misses you."

"No I doubt that." Malon said dully.

Maku looked up at her and gave her a big smile. "Why wouldn't he. I mean he talks about you all the time."

"What?" Malon looked up at Maku questioningly. "What do you mean 'he talks about me all the time'?"

Zuku shot a quick glare at Maku, who smiled sheepishly and sweat dropped. "Err… well I'm sure he talks about you all the time. Heh, a…. yeah who wouldn't. I mean it's not that I know if he talks about you all the time, it's just that I think he would. I mean you seem like a nice person and… yeah. That's all I meant!" Maku nervously began to scratch the back of his neck, hoping she wouldn't see through his lie. Malon stared at him for a while and then sighed as she stood up. She walked all around the place looking under and over things. She seemed to be examining the place. She turned back to Maku and Zuku.

"So when will your 'master' be arriving anyway?" she said desperately trying to change the subject.

"He should be arriving anytime now." Zuku said.

"Ah…"

Malon coolly walked over to the stream taking the water in her hands and splashing it all over her face. She stared at her reflection in the water and slowly touched the side of her stomach, wondering why it hurt so much. She gently caressed it with her hand.

Suddenly a small rustling in the bushes put everyone on alert. The sound of a horse could be heard and so could its large footsteps.

"Master! Finally he has returned!" Maku quickly ran over to the sound, excitedly screaming things in a language that Malon had never heard of. He slowly disappeared into the bushes. After a few seconds they could hear muffled voices talking together, and soon Maku appeared along side their master. Malon stared at him, her jaw hanging wide open. It couldn't be. It really was him.

He laughed lightly at something Maku had just said but his laughter faded once he noticed her. For a moment they just stared at each other, both too shocked to say anything. Finally she broke the silence.

"Link!"

--

"So… you have no clue how you got here?" Link asked Malon.

I t was nearing sunset. Link and Malon had seated themselves under the tent after recovering from the sudden shock that had swept over them when they saw each other. During that moment three things had happened. First Malon had gotten very mad at Maku and Zuku for not telling her that Link was their master. Second Link hadn't been able to spit out one word as Malon began shouting at him for not visiting her for those long years. And at last she had burst into tears because of, well, the same reason she had yelled at him. Now finally back to her old self, Malon had with Link decided it would be much better to discuss things privately, away from Maku and Zuku… well Maku mostly.

Malon lay down beside Link and sighed.

"Yeah I just woke up and I was here."

"Hmmm…" Link crossed his legs and looked thoughtful for a moment and then finally sighed and gave up. "Well then I guess you can stay here for the night. We've got some catching up to do!" Link smiled at her but she turned away.

"I'd rather waste my time with anyone other than you." She said conceitedly.

Link crossed his arms. "Jeez that was cold. Are you really that mad at me?"

"Maybe."

"Well… I'm sorry. You know there's a good explanation for this all."

"I'm waiting."

"Well…a… um…" Link sweat dropped and scratched his head trying hard to think something up. "Eh… well you see I was brainwashed. Yeah that's it!"

"Brainwashed?"

"Yeah…um I couldn't remember where the ranch was and I got lost and um…uh couldn't remember who you were. Yeah and then Zelda helped me get my memory back and I forgot to come and… visit you…"

"Really?" Malon said lifting an eyebrow.

"A…yeah."

"You know Link," she said sitting up, "You couldn't fool a cow. Brainwashed? Please!"

"Heh…"

"Forget it Link. I don't need to know your excuses."

"Well you know I'm still really sorry, Mal."

Malon put her arms around her knees and looked away. She said nothing.

Meanwhile unknown by the two they were being watched. From high up in the trees Maku and Zuku were secretly spying and listening to every word being said inside the tent. One probably would have expected Maku to be doing this, but for Zuku it was quite unusual. He had for the second time been bribed into doing something stupid like this by Maku. How it happened he did not know. But what he did know was if they were caught they would be severely punished by Link. He looked over to his brother. Maku was an idiot. He knew they'd be caught any minute now.

"Maku is this really necessary. I mean it's not like their going to 'do' anything."

Maku crawled up to the edge of the branch he was on before answering.

"Zuku, if you must know, I am a pro at this. We won't get caught. I promise."

Maku slowly lowered part of his body off of the branch so he could hear what was being said better.

"Well, they don't seem to be discussing anything, and I don't hear any sounds…"

"Don't hear any sounds? Zuku said as he leaned up against the trunk. "What did you think they were doing in there?" Zuku eyed him suspiciously.

"…"

"Never mind. I don't want to know." He looked away at a couple of birds flying around. "Let's just hope we don't get caught." He said under his breath.

And then almost as if on cue the branch they were in slowly began to bend.

"Please tell me this isn't happening Maku!"

"Uh…oh." Maku said as it started to break.

As that was happening an awkward silence had began to take place in the tent. Suddenly Malon sat up and looked around.

"Do you hear that?" she said.

"Huh?"

They were quiet for a while until the heard what sounded like a tree branch breaking and a rather girly scream and yelling.

"Agg." Link groaned. "I bet I know who that is."

He headed out the tent, quickly followed by Malon. Just as he had suspected Maku and Zuku lye before him along with a broken tree branch. Link stared at them both with that I-know-what-you-were-doing-so-don't-bother-to-lie stare. Still it didn't stop Maku from trying to squeeze himself out of it.

"Oh hi Master! Uh… you're probably wondering why we're here, right?"

"Yes." Link said lifting an eyebrow.

"Well if you must know…" he said going through each word slowly, "It was all Zuku's idea! You know I tried to tell him we shouldn't but nooooooooooo, he was sooooooooo stubborn! So I went along to stop him and I got caught up in this mess. You must know I was framed!" He smiled, proud of the lie he had just thought up. But unfortunately things didn't exactly go the way he had planned.

"What the--?! Master you know I would never do anything like that! He's lying!"

"Nuh uh! You just wanted to see if they were making out!"

"WHAT?!! You're the one that said that, you disgusting little liar!

"Oh yeah, you ugly little midget!"

"Stupid little pig!

"Fat little—"

"Will the both of you just SHUTUP!" Link roared, scaring both the little boys and making them fall back in fright. He glared at them both and scowled.

"Look first of all Maku I know you were lying so don't even try to weasel your way out of a punishment, you're getting one and that's final. Second of all since both of you were in on it you're both going to pay." Zuku shot a death glare at Maku, who just stuck his tongue out at him. "Now both of you 50 laps around the forest. Go!

"Yes sir!" they both saluted and ran off into the forest.

As soon as they were gone Malon laughed lightly. "Gee you sure know how to handle them."

He sighed sitting down. "They can be so annoying sometimes."

Malon suddenly burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Link asked curiously.

"I just had a thought. It's funny they actually thought we were making out."

"Could happen." Link shrugged.

"What?"

"Well what'd ya say. How about a kiss to say sorry for not visiting you. Eh?"

Malon stared at him for a while then laughed.

"Sorry Link but you won't be getting that close to me, and besides it'll take more than one kiss for me to forgive you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. So tell me Link. Where and when exactly did you meet Maku and Zuku?"

"Well," Link said thinking back to the time they met, "I do quite clearly remember that I was in Hyrule field… it wasn't too long ago… I heard cries of help coming from the forest and it turns out I was them. They were being attacked by a pack of wolfos and ever since I saved their sorry butts they've been following me around calling me their master. But they do everything I tell them to and they hardly ever complain, so I guess they're okay."

"I see. So where'd you put her?"

"Huh? Put who?"

"Hmm." Malon looked around and suddenly burst into a fit of giggles as she found what she was looking for. "Oh it's Epona!" She quickly ran over to her and hugged her affectionately. "Oh Epona! I haven't seen her in such a long time! How has she been? Has she been any trouble to you? I can't believe it's really her."

Link chuckled. "Fine, no, and yes it really is her." He smiled. It was always fun to see Malon so happy.

Epona returned all the affection she was getting from Malon by nuzzling Malon's cheek.

"Ah isn't that a beautiful sight." Link said sarcastically, getting tired of this "touching" scene. Malon just ignored him. She wouldn't let anyone ruin this moment she had with Epona. After all it had been almost a year since they'd seen each other. Malon began humming softly to Epona. Link felt like he could gag.

He sighed and sat down trying to keep his mind on more important matters. But while he really didn't want it to his mind slowly fell upon Malon and he just stared at her. He slowly realized that Malon was no longer the little girl she used to be but now a grown woman. She had grown to look quite beautiful. As he continued to stare at her his eyes couldn't help but start to stare at certain "places" on her body that shall not be mentioned in this chapter. He could feel a drool coming on. Ah yes… Gah wait! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! He wouldn't allow them to invade his mind. Especially not with Malon. That was just too embarrassing. He shook his head getting rid of all the thoughts.

Malon walked back over to Link and sat down beside him.

"What now?"

"Malon has anyone ever told you that you're really pretty?"

"Huh?" Malon blushed a bit and stared at Link, and then finally found her voice.

"Don't try hitting on me Link. I've had enough idiots do that all ready and you don't want to know where they ended up."

"I'm only telling the truth…"

"What?"

Link didn't say anything. Instead he was too busy staring at her beauty. There was that feeling again. It was an odd feeling yet nice. He remembered the night he had spied on her. It was the same feeling from that night. Ugg what was wrong with him.

"Stop it."

"Huh?" He looked in question at Malon. She turned away from him.

"Stop looking at me like that. It makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Oh uh… sorry." He looked down.

Another awkward silence between them began to take place.

"Wait! I've got an idea, "Link said suddenly, nearly knocking Malon over.

"You could've at least warned me before shouting out like that you baka!" (A/N sorry just felt like adding in some Japanese there -)

"Eh… sorry about that."

"I don't care. What was your idea anyway?"

"You have to say yes first."

"No."

"C'mon Mal, just trust me on this one please!"

"Fine… Yes…. Happy? I said it now tell me what you want."

"So then you will go out with me?"

"What?! That's what you wanted?" Malon turned as ripe as a tomato. "Link… I can't…"

"Too bad. You already said you would. No turning back now."

"It's not that…"

"What is it? What do you think I'll try something? I promise I won't."

"No it's just…" Malon turned her gaze away from him and focused on something else.

"Well?" Link was beginning to get impatient.

"You see…"

"Just get it out already Malon!"

Malon blushed. "I'm not going looking like…this…"

It took Link a while to respond, but then he through his head back and laughed. Malon blushed even more, if possible.

"What are you talking about? I think you look fine right now."

She looked down, embarrassed. "Just because I'm a ranch girl doesn't mean I don't care about how I look." She said completely ignoring what he had just said.

"Hm…" he walked over to her and tucked two fingers under her chin. He slowly lifted up her chin so their eyes met. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. We can go in the Market and get you some clothes if that's what you want."

She smiled at him, her cheeks still a bit flushed. "All right. Let's go."

--

"You imbecile! You let her get away? Explain yourself at once Chronos!"

"Hm… why I let her get away is none of your concern, Zero. Besides, you always say why take them right away when you can have a little fun with them first."

Zero scowled and gave him an angry glare.

"Listen Chronos, it may be true that I always say that but this is different. We must find out if she is the one as soon as possible."

"Hn…"

Zero smirked. "I have another job for you, just to ensure your loyalty to me. I want you to spy on her, and when the time is right bring her here. Do not fail me this time. Is that clear?"

Silence.

"Well?"

"…Yes brother."

"Then go. Kill anyone who gets in your way. It's the girl we want."

"Yes. I will not fail you this time."

--

Wow that was _long_ In fact that was way longer than I intended this chapter to be. But since there were some new characters and Link's appearance I guess it makes sense. The next chapter will be shorter though and I think maybe even more romance. Well since this chapter concentrated on more of Link's thoughts toward Malon the next chapter will be vice versa. Oh ya! In the next last part in case you were confused than just know that Chronos is the Indigo One and Zero is the Golden One. I know the names are dumb but don't flame me bout it. I hope you think this chapter was worth reading. Personally I think it was best chapter yet. Anyways if you have any suggestions or comments on what you'd like to see next jus tell me. It's not guaranteed that I'll use it but I will thank you anyways :) Well I guess this means—

The next chapter will be posted soon

Chel Bel: Who said that?

I did!

Chel Bel: …

Oh I guess I should tell you my name! It's Garnet :)

Chel Bel: And you are?

Garnet: Your muse.

Chel Bel: =sweat drops= I didn't ask for a muse

Garnet: Exactly, but since you take so long to update I came here on my own

Chel Bel: That's not fair I work as hard as I can!

Garnet: But apparently not hard enough. Now get to work!

Chel Bel: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah T-T

Garnet: Now you peoples go and review and the next chappie will be up as soon as I get Chelsea off her lazy butt and make her do it. See ya!!

_--Chelsea--_


	4. The Princess and The Date

I'm back! I'm so sorry I kept you people waiting for so long but hey, at least it wasn't as long a wait as the others Well I'm back now and chapter four is finally here! Oh yeahs I promised peoples that reviewed cookies and so cookies are handed out to the following:

Fearless Malon

Cherry6124

luckymoose

Starlighter S-14

Atchika

Jareth

koji san

Enjoy! Err… whatever

**Jareth**- Sorry it is 'imbecile'. The spell checker never lies to me -

**Atchika**- sighs nobody ever gets me… sorry you had such a hard time understanding this. I know it's all kinda bunched together and stuffs but I'll try to straighten it out a bit later in the story. I seriously had no clue writing a story like this would be so hard. And no "Chappie" is not a word (at least I don't think it is.) I guess I just like to use it cause it sounds more fun than chapter and… yeah :)

**Fearless Malon**- gets a whip oh so you're not going to update, huh? shakes whip around and motions to killer chickens Guess you'll just have ta deal with my killer chickens then. Prepare to die!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA gets hit by a rock

Before I forget I'd like you peoples to know that this** _'…'_ **means someone is thinking.

**Disclaimer**- I own nothing. I never have I never will and that's that

Here we go!

**Chapter Four: The Princess and the Date**

"I'd like to point out… that this… is all… your fault, Maku." Zuku said between huffs of breath.

"Well if you… went along with my story… then maybe… we wouldn't be… here… right now, Zuku."

"What?!... and get… myself…caught up in… this mess? No way!"

"Yeah… but then… I could've continued… to spy… on them!"

"I never wanted… to spy… on them… anyway!"

"Oh well… we still only have 49 more… laps… to … go…"

"Just… keep running… and… don't talk to me…again."

--

"Come on Malon! Just pick one already."

Malon ignored Link as she began to look at another set of dresses. Since they had been here they had been in the dress shop for about an hour. Malon was determined to find something that would make men drool over her when they got to the place Link had been planning to take them. Well, actually there was only one man she wanted to be drooled over by. That man was Link.

"Hmm, how about this one Link? Malon said pulling out a lavender colored dress.

"Huh? Wha? Oh yeah it's perfect. It would look great on you!" Link said although he really didn't care too much for it. All he wanted was to get out of here before all this shopping drove him mad. He sighed as she reluctantly put it back down and went to look for another.

"You know I don't think it suits me too well. I'll go look for something else."

"Will you please make it quick though? I'm getting tired of waiting." Link said in an annoyed voice.

Malon poked him gently. "Quit your whining. You waited up until now, you can wait a little longer."

"But Malon!"

"No buts. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Buh bye."

With that said she walked off further into the shop, to areas unknown by the male species. Link just sat there, ready for another hour of shopping. Another hour of his life, wasted.

--

"Princess, are you sure you'd like to attend this… err… play? I don't think it's necessary."

Princess Zelda turned her gaze over to Shellon, her butler, and gave him a questioning stare. "What do you mean you don't think it's necessary? What? Is it that you don't think it's necessary for me, the princess, to have any fun?"

Shellon rubbed his hands together nervously. "Well, no. It's not that. It's just that there's going to be lots of people there and, well you know anyone of them could just try to kidnap you…"

"No Shellon like I told you before I am not going with an escort. And I am not going to have spies all around me watching my every move. I just want to be like a normal girl for once and have a normal day in a normal town. Is that clear?"

"Well I don't think your father would approve."

Zelda rolled her eyes as she switched her position in the chair, swinging her legs over the side of it. "I don't care what he thinks. I'm a grown woman now and I can make my own decisions. I don't need anything or anyone telling me what to do. Now, you're excused."

"Princess can't we talk this over a bit longer."

She groaned. "I said you're excused Shellon."

Shellon sighed. Oh well, there was no use trying to change the mind of a stubborn princess. "Yes milady." He bowed and left.

"Finally." Zelda mumbled under her breath. She got out her chair and with a change of mood ran over to her closet opening it to reveal about 50 pairs of her best dresses.

"Hmm… which one to wear?" She shuffled through a few dresses and then picked up a pink and purple one. "Hmm, how about this… But wait! What if Link is there! No, no, not that one he won't like it… maybe this one, nah no way! No not that one either. How about… no that one makes me look fat." After about ten minutes of the same thing (**A/N** Come on girls we all experience it) Zelda finally found exactly what she wanted. "Yes this is perfect! I just hope my little Linky is there to see it."

--

_"Link. Link. Wake up Link. I'm back. Link…Link! LINK! WAKE UP!"_

"Ahhhhhhhhh! I didn't do it! Spare my life! Huh? Oh… hi Malon." Malon gave Link an odd look and then laughed.

"Link you baka! You fell asleep."

"Huh?" he paused. "Wait! How long has it been? About an hour? We have to get going!" He quickly jumped out of his seat ready to go, but as soon as he did Malon pushed him back down.

"Not so fast Sonic, it's only been about five minutes and you, I mean we, still have to pay for these." She said holding up several pairs of dresses.

He groaned. "I thought you said you only wanted one thing."

"Well, I did, but I changed my mind. Now come on."

"Damn."

Malon quickly dragged Link over to the counter, where the cashier (or whatever they called people back then) smiled at them. She quickly began adding up the prices and then said to Malon. "My, my. You must be an extremely lucky girl to have a boyfriend willing to pay this much." Malon blushed. "Well he's not exactly my boyfriend…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, fiancé."

"Uh, no."

"Husband?"

"No." More blushing.

"Blind Date?"

"Um, no actually we're just friends."

"Oh. Well I hope you have enough money on you. That'll be 250 rupees."

"WHAT?!" Link's loud scream could be heard throughout the entire shop. Many girls stopped what they were doing and stared at him, almost melting as they turned around and met his blue eyes.

The cashier gave him that evil store owner's grin. "250 rupees." She repeated.

Link sighed and took out a bunch or rupees and set them on the counter. The cashier slowly counted through them and smiled. "All right have a nice day."

"Malon! Why'd you make me spend that much money! Now we only have ten rupees left!"

"Be quiet. I have my reasons. Now hold these and I'll be right back." Malon said handing him all her bags and heading towards the dressing room. A few minutes later she returned wearing whole new attire. She wore (**A/N** here comes the clothing description! Just know people that I suck at these - ;) a pine green tight fitting sweater with sleeves that drooped down a bit. It had designs drawn around the neck and bottom. She wore a tan miniskirt and matching tan boots.

"Wow Malon… You look… great!" Malon smiled. Exactly what she wanted him to say.

"Thanks. Now let's go."

They quickly headed out the shop and finally Malon asked the question that had been bothering her all day.

"So tell me, where exactly are we going Link?"

"To a place."

"To a place where?"

To a place in the market."

To a place in the market where?" Malon said beginning to lose her patience.

"To a place in the market somewhere."

"Uggggggg! Link just tell me already! Where are we going?!"

"… To a place."

Malon finally sighed and gave up. She'd just have to wait to find out for herself where they were going. Link chuckled. "Don't worry Malon. I promise this will be the best date you've ever been on."

Malon rolled her eyes. I've had enough with your promises Link."

They both laughed and kept walking. After a few moments of playing some games, eating and talking both were interrupted when they heard a shrill voice ring in the air.

Omigosh! It's Link!"

"Oh…no…" From the crowd of people a young girl suddenly appeared. She ran to Link and cuddled up next to him.

"Oh Link! I'm so glad to see you!"

She quickly began to hug Link not taking the least interest in Malon whose jaw had dropped in surprised.

"Oh Linky I haven't seen you in soooooooo long! I missed you."

"A… yeah… you too, but do you mind letting me go." The girl let go and smiled at him.

"So are you here to see the play too?"

"Um yeah. Actually I'm here on a date."

"Oh really? Where's the lucky girl? Is she around anywhere?"

"Yeah it's Malon. She's over there."

"Where? Oh, hi Malon. Sorry I didn't see you there before." The girl smiled sweetly at her.

Malon fumed. Who was this girl anyway, and how dare she steal HER Link away from HER...Wait that wasn't right. Link was never hers in the first place. What was she thinking?

Malon forced a smile. "Yeah well it's nice to meet you uh…"

She smiled once again and clasped her hands together in front of her. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't yet give you my name. It's Zelda. Princess Zelda."

Once again Malon's jaw dropped. Zelda giggled lightly and then turned back to Link, grasping his arm in a death grip. "You wouldn't mind if I joined you two would you? I've nothing better to do and I think it would be very fun for the three of us to go to the play together. May I join you please?"

Link sweat dropped and looked back and forth at both girls.

"Uh… err…you see… I-I'll let Malon decide."

Zelda turned to Malon now. "So what do you say Malon? Is it all right if I tag along."

It was clearly shown on Malon's face that she did not want Zelda to come along with them. _'She seems so obsessed with Link that it would be impossible for him to notice me even for one second.' _Malon thought. She frowned and then became aware that all eyes were on her. She sighed and put on her best fake smile.

"Sure I don't see why not."

Zelda loosened her grip on Link and ran over to hug Malon tightly. "Thank you so much Malon! This will be so fun, you'll see."

She then returned to Link's side. Link tried to catch a look at Malon but she turned away so she couldn't see him. He sighed. "Well I guess we should get going now."

"Oh that's right Linky. Come on you two. I have front row seats at the play. We can sit there. I'll lead the way!" Zelda said leading them both away.

Malon slowly followed Zelda, trying to erase the feeling in her that said this date would turn out as a complete disaster.

--

"Maku, I know that you're my brother and all and that I should love you no matter what, and that I should understand that whatever you do you do it for a reason, but what the heck were you thinking when you chased that wolfo! You could've gotten us killed!"

Maku sat thinking in the pit that both he and Zuku sat in. It was almost night time right now. They had been in this pit for about, oh say an hour. Just as Zuku had predicted Maku had managed to do something stupid when they were almost on their last lap around the forest… okay so they still had 47 to do, who really cared? After all Link hadn't said they had to do all their laps. They were on their way home when Maku had gotten the brilliant idea to go wolfo hunting, despite the fact that they had recently encountered one that had nearly killed them. Zuku sighed. Maku was hopeless. He was going to get himself killed someday if this kept up.

"Come on Zuku add a little fun in your life. Here, sing a song with me. Oh I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves!"

And so it continued like that. Zuku didn't know how he'd survive here but he'd try his best.

"And this is how it goes! Come on Zuku! Oh I know a song that everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves! Oh I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes!"

_'Count to ten Zuku. Count to ten.'_

"You know you want to Zuku! Oh I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves! Oh I know a song—"

_'It's all right Zuku. It won't last much longer.'_

"You're no fun Zuku. Come on, sing! And this is how it goes! Oh I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes! Oh I know a song—"

_'One…two…three…'_

"That gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves—"

_'Four…five…six…'_

"Oh I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes! Oh I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, gets on everybody's nerves—"

_'Seven…eight…nine…'_

"Oh I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it GOES!!!"

_'TEN!!!'_

"MAKU CLOSE YOUR MOUTH AND SHUT UP!!!!" Zuku yelled furiously at his dumb brother.

Maku stared at him and crossed his arms in a childish like manner. "That's all you had to say you know!"

Zuku scowled. This would be a long night.

--

"Isn't this exciting you guys? The play is going to start any minute now! I heard it's supposed to be very romantic."

Zelda sighed and laid her head down on Link's shoulder, cuddling up next to him. Finally they were there. Seated in their seats they waited for the play to start, with Zelda talking nonstop to entertain them. Malon looked over at Link just to see him blushing rapidly as Zelda whispered something in his ear. Malon couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy begin to rise up inside her at this sight. She knew she shouldn't be jealous, but seeing Link and Zelda flirt together just bothered her. After all this wasn't a group date Zelda had just come along unexpectedly. Malon sighed _'I shouldn't be jealous. It's not like I like Link anyway…at least not more than a friend… I think…'_ She shook her head and mentally kicked herself. _'I don't like him more than a friend. Ha! What was I thinking?'_

Zelda looked at Malon and gave her one of her beautiful smiles. Malon hated it. She couldn't stand the fact that Zelda pitied her just because she wasn't as beautiful, kind, or rich as she was. Malon just ignored her pretending she didn't notice.

Link looked at both girls he could feel the tension going on between Malon and Zelda. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

"Um, I have to go to the… err, um, bathroom. I'll be back in a minute you guys."

Link was quick to get out of his seat, leaving Malon and Zelda alone to chat, and hoping his plan would work. Zelda smiled dreamily as he walked away. She turned to Malon with a smile. Malon tried her hardest to smile back but all she could get out was a quick smirk.

"Isn't he something? He's so charming." Zelda said.

Malon decided to play dumb for now. "Isn't who something?'

Zelda giggled. "Link silly. Who did you think I was talking about? Hmm… I wonder where he could be going. He obviously wasn't going to the bathroom."

Malon rolled her eyes. "Who cares he probably went do something important."

Zelda sighed and looked to the ground. "I don't know. I kind of have the feeling he was trying to get away from me…" She said talking more to the ground than to Malon.

"What?" Malon questioned. "Why would he be trying to get away from you?"

"Well I could tell you but… just don't let Link know I let you know okay?"

Malon nodded. "I won't tell."

"Well ever since Link and I… well broke up, he's just been ignoring me for the last few days. I don't know why. I don't think I did anything to make him mad…"

Malon didn't know it but as soon as Zelda told her that her jaw had suddenly dropped out of surprise and her eyes had become almost as big as gumdrops. She stared at Zelda in complete surprise. "Y-you went o-out with Link!"

Zelda nodded but the girls didn't have much more to say as they saw Link coming back from wherever he had gone. Link sat down in between both girls and sighed noticing that his plan hadn't worked. But this time both girls were silent. _'Women. I swear I'll never understand them.'_

Malon's face burned with anger and slight jealousy. How could he. How could Link go out with her and not even tell her. It just wasn't fair. She told him everything. About her fears, likes, dislikes, wants, needs, embarrassing moments, everything. Yet he couldn't tell her about this one simple secret. That he had gone out with Princess Zelda. There were so many questions in Malon's mind she felt as if she might explode! Suddenly the play began to start and the whole audience was hushed.

Neither Link, Malon, Zelda, nor anyone for that matter said a word throughout the entire play. They were too busy watching the actors sing, and dance, fight, and grieve. It was all too beautiful for anything to be said. Still Malon couldn't contain all the thoughts that ran through her mind. She also took this time to examine what Zelda was wearing. (**A/N** Oh gawd not another clothing description! T-T) she wore an above knee sparkling red dress, a lavender scarf and some lavender gloves along with beautiful shoes that had rhinestones engraved in them, with her hair up and her makeup perfect she looked just like a model. She was perfect. Perfect for Link.

Malon sighed and turned back to the play which was just beginning to end. Despite herself she smiled and clapped along with the rest of the audience while all the actors took a bow and thanked them for coming.

"Well that was nice but we should probably get going." Zelda said standing up.

"Yeah I agree." Link also said.

"And do I have much of a choice." Malon finally piped up. Link and Zelda smiled and then they all went on their way.

As they traveled further into the main part of the festival Malon couldn't help but feel that they were being watched. Numerous times she glanced around only to by the smiling faces of other citizens. _'I don't know. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I should stop this and have fun.'_ She continued to trail on behind Link and Zelda cautiously. Then suddenly stopped dead in her tracks in front of the ally they were they were just passing by. As she stood there she caught a glimpse of something that looked terrifying. A great wolf like creature stood before her, its fangs dripping with blood and holding the body of a tiny red haired girl.

"No," she whispered, "It-it couldn't be… there's no way."

The beast stared at her with its red eyes. It was hungry for blood. She slowly backed away from it just as a firm hand was placed on her shoulder. She jumped.

"Malon relax it's me."

Malon turned around to meet the happy face of Link. He smiled at her and tilted his head to the side.

"Are you all right? You look kind of pale."

She stared at Link for a few minutes still a little shocked from the sudden scene she had saw.

"Oh I-I'm sorry I just…" She looked back toward the ally. I just thought I saw something."

"Malon it was probably just a cat or something. You don't have to worry." Zelda said comfortingly.

"I know what I saw and it wasn't a cat!" Malon said almost yelling at her. Zelda lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"Come on girls why don't we just get going." Link said trying to convince them not to fight.

Zelda nodded. Malon stood there for a moment and gazed at the ally. Finally, when nothing was in sight she walked up to them and went along with Link and Zelda.

_'I can't believe it. It looked almost the same as I remember… but how could it be here… and now. Maybe it has something to do with what I—'_

"Malon? Are you in there? What's wrong?" The voice of Link took Malon out of her thoughts again. She turned to him with a confused look on her face and slowly began to realize that she had spaced out on them again.

"You guys I'm-I'm sorry… I just can't concentrate on anything today…" Malon said quietly. She could feel herself begin to pale out a bit. Her stomach felt like it was flipping around inside of her. She hadn't felt like this earlier, so why was it happening to her now?

"Malon do you feel well? You look like you've just seen a ghost. Perhaps you should see one of the doctors in the castle." Zelda offered.

"No, I'm fine. I think… I just need to take a small walk. If it's all right with you two."

Zelda and Link exchanged worried glances.

"Malon I don't think that'll be such a good idea. It's beginning to get dark." Link said looking at the sky.

"I think it'll be fine. I'll be on my way now." Malon quickly hurried off but was once again stopped by Link. She spun around to meet his blue eyes.

"Link I said I was—"

"Malon stop," he interrupted. "What's wrong with you? You were just fine earlier. I don't see why now's any different."

Malon turned away from his gaze. "I don't know Link. I just don't feel well."

Then why won't you come back with us? I'm sure we could find you a bed to rest in or something. Besides it will—"

"Link I'm going. I don't want to go to the castle."

Link looked into her eyes for a minute. Then he finally took a risk in saying what was wrong. "You're jealous aren't you?"

"What?"

"You're jealous of Zelda aren't you?

"Wha- I don't know what you're talking about."

"Just admit it! You've been jealous all this time!"

"You inconsiderate jerk! I have not!"

"Then why won't you come back with us"

"Because I don't want to!"

With that she yanked her arm away from Link's strong grip, much to his surprise, and spun on her heels away from him. She slowly disappeared into the crowd of rushing people.

Link could only stare off at her, wondering where she could be going.

--

And that's chapter 4 for ya!

Garnet: That was pathetic! You suck at writing!

Chel Bel: You're so mean! I wish I had a nicer muse.

Garnet: Well too bad cause ya don't!

Chel Bel: That's what you think =makes Matthew (Fire Emblem) appear= Matthew!

Matthew: Huh? Wha? Ahhhhhhhh not **YOU**!!!

Chel Bel: Yes sweetie it is me

Matthew: =cries= This has to be a nightmare!

Chel Bel: Nope this is real!

Garnet: How did you? He has nothing to do with this story! Why did you bring him here?

Chel Bel: Because he's my current obsession and he's soooooo cute!

GarnetMatthew: =sweat drop=

Chel Bel: Anyway you people know the drill. **REVIEW**!!! If you have any questions or suggestions just let me know and I'll get back to ya on it! Oh and I'm not a Zelda basher. Those little supposedly rude scenes with her … well there'll be more information on that later in the story. Really I just see her as an energetic, carefree and sweet kind of girl. Sorry if it bothered any of you. Well that's all I have to say. See ya!

Till Next!

_--__Chelsea--___


	5. Broken Promises

Yes I'm back. Doesn't that make all of you proud

Garnet: Yeah right, they don't wanna read any of your crappy fanfiction

Chel Bel: … How do you know?

Garnet: Because all of your work sucks

Chel Bel: You're so discouraging! --;;

Garnet: - I know

Chel Bel: =sighs= Oh well. Anyway... um nothing much to say right now but…err I hope y'all like this chapter. Now Garnet do the disclaimer

Garnet: Chel Bel does not own Zelda, but someday if she manages to take over the world as she plans, than maybe she will

Chel Bel: Done perfectly. Oh! Before I forget there a few comments I'd like to include.

**JoJo10**- lols! Well I'm glad you like it. Hope ya enjoy this chapter as much as the others - =gives out a cookie=

**Anna-Elena: Starlight Chaos**- Yes! Yes! Yes! You must demand readers to review at the end of your fics - Oh, and I'm glad you like it. =hands out another cookie=

**Everyone else**- I love all of you sooooo much! =gives cookie=

See it pays to review doesn't it? That's why you must do it people! Ok let's get started!

**Chapter Five: Broken Promises**

By the time Malon had finally escaped from the festival and the crowd of people, it had begun to drizzle lightly. The hard rain that fell continued to have its effect on the girl's mood, making her feel even worse than she had felt before. She leaned up against a near by tree and closed her eyes.

_'I thought I'd stop seeing that image even after mother died, but now it continues to haunt me. Why won't it just go away?'_

Malon sniffed and wiped away a cold tear about to fall from her face. Slowly she looked up to the sky and started yelling at it.

"Why won't you just go away? Stop haunting me already! I've gotten over you now! I don't even miss my mother anymore... I can go on without her… just… fine."

She couldn't take it anymore. Malon fell to her hands and knees and began to weep loudly. Just like she had when her mother died, and when she fell off a horse trying to ride it for the first time, when Ingo had threatened to hurt her when she was young and when Link had left her for what seemed like an eternity.

"Aw, you poor thing. Do you really think crying will solve anything?"

Malon looked up scared at first, but then confused. "What? W-who said that?" She said shaking. _'Maybe I really am going crazy.'_ She looked around her a bit more but there was no one in sight. But perhaps it was because of the rain or maybe the tears that had formed in her eyes, had she not seen the dark shadow that loomed high above her.

"Ah, I guess I should reveal myself to you now, shouldn't I."

Malon stood and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. _'That voice…'_ She looked around again and with no sound at all the man who had been talking to her descended gracefully from the wall of the market he had been standing on, and landed in front of Malon. To say Malon had been a little shocked to see this man who was dressed in a long cloak with a slit in the front revealing a black tunic and a sword sheath would be an understatement. Malon slowly backed away from him and not seeing the rock that was behind her tripped and fell on her rear.

"Oh I'm sorry did I surprise you?"

Malon only continued to back away. The man let out a frosty laugh and took out a sword. A look of horror began to creep over Malon's face as she saw this. He smirked.

"I'm sorry but we don't have too much time to talk. I guess I do have a right to introduce myself. I am Chronos of the Kaiton tribe, and apparently I have to take you away. It is in my brother's orders."

"What? N-no way! I won't let you!"

He laughed again at Malon's pathetic attempt to frighten him (**A/N **What a meanie he is) "I'm sorry to say this, but we both know that you're no match for me. Now we can do this either the hard way or the easy way, your pick."

"Wha—what do you want with me anyway?" Malon said trying to distract him long enough so she could get out of this situation."

"Oh, I assure you you'll find out soon enough." He did a cheeky grin and held his sword up in front of his face examining it. "Well then, since you haven't answered my question yet I guess it's safe to assume that you won't be letting me take you that easily. I guess I'll have to do this the hard way then. I'll try not to make you bleed though, we wouldn't want a messy fight now would we?"

Before Malon could respond to any of this Chronos was already on his feet and headed straight towards her. Malon cried out in pain as he, just missing her whole arm, cut it making a dark red mark across it. Malon almost instantly grabbed her arm in pain. Chronos smiled in satisfaction as she fell to her knees. As she saw his smiling she let go of her arm, trying to show that she wasn't as hurt as she appeared to be. She flinched, though, when she felt a hard tug on her hair as he grabbed it forcing her to stand back up.

"I'm not done with you yet." He hissed making shivers run up her spine.

"Please stop it!" Malon cried out trying to escape his strong grip, even though she knew the more she pulled the more it would hurt.

He grinned and swung her around by the hair pushing her body into a tree. He pinned her there with his strong arms and stared at her with icy cold eyes.

"I think I could have lots of fun with you. I'm not supposed to fool around much longer but maybe I could stretch the rules a bit. Before any of that though…" He shuffled around in his cloak and pulled out an odd looking pill. Even as hard as Malon was resisting he still manage to get the pill down her throat. He smiled now and ran his hand over her face.

"Mm, such a pretty girl..."

Malon closed her eyes and couldn't help but cry. What had she done to deserve this? What? Though she knew he wouldn't hear her call, she slowly whispered something so quiet it was almost inaudible. "Please Link, I need your help…"

A strong wind blew by and suddenly a voice was spoken loud enough to be heard above it all. "Let Malon go, now."

Chronos scowled and turned just to be met with the serious face of Link. He glared at him.

"I guess now I have to deal with you also." He looked back at Malon and held out a hand towards her, "I just need you to be quiet while I deal with this idiot." A dark light began to form around his hand and four round objects shot straight to Malon, on to her legs and arms and kept her pinned there, just like he had before. Chronos smirked, "Good."

"Don't you dare hurt her." Link barked at him.

Chronos turned. "Or else what?"

"Or else I might just have to do the same to you." Chronos laughed.

"You foolish boy. Do you really believe that you could even lay a finger on me?"

"Well I guess we'll just have to find that out now won't we?" Without wasting a second both men drew their swords and went into immediate battle. Link found it hard to hit Chronos, for his agility was great and his power was even greater.

Chronos struck swiftly at Link's head. Link ducked just missing it, but as soon as he got up he was met with many other strikes. He nimbly dodged the all trying his best to get in at least one strike that would catch Chronos off guard. He finally managed to kick Chronos making him stumble a bit. Link took this opportunity to quickly thrust his sword in Chronos's direction, but in the sudden excitement that had swept over him at that moment, missed. Chronos smiled and jumped back a few steps.

"Your aim is pathetic. Do you really think you'll finish me off like that? In fact I could have killed you and taken her a minute ago. I guess now it's time I got rid of you."

"Sorry but I'd have to say you're wrong."

Instead of trying to hit him again with his sword Link tried Din's fire catching Chronos off guard, but damaging him only a little. Chronos groaned and put his hand to his arm trying to heal it but as soon as the fire cleared Link got a perfect hit on him cutting his upper arm and making It bleed a little bit more. It was now Chronos's turn to dodge all of Link's blows but the fun didn't last long. He quickly caught Link's sword and manage to pry it out of his hands. Link was dumbfounded as he watched Chronos throw the sword far off into the open field. He smirked at Link and slowly put his own sword away.

"You annoying pest. Enough sword play. Why don't we try something new?"

"Something like what?" Link said slightly panting.

"Oh you'll figure it out." He said and with the blink of an eye was gone.

"What the… where'd he go…" Link looked around but he was no where in sight.

"Watch out Link! Behind you!" Malon quickly yelled. Link glanced over his shoulder and was suddenly kicked to the ground by Chronos who howled in laughter. Chronos held out his hand in front of Link and a purple glow began to form around it. He smirked.

"Looks like I win."

"I don't think so!" Link said then hastily grabbed an arrow from the quiver than hung on his back and instantly through it at Chronos. Chronos, surprised at the sudden blow, stumbled backwards off of Link and scowled.

"Not so easy is it? Link said getting up and dusting off his clothes. Chronos grinned.

"I have to admit kid you've got potential, but not enough to beat the two of us. Well then I guess I'll be seeing you soon. Next time, though, you won't be so lucky." He laughed and then with a flash of blue light, disappeared.

"The two of them…" Link trailed off.

Malon was slowly released from the objects that held her there and dropped to the ground with her arm still bleeding. She moaned in pain.

"Malon! Link quickly ran to her aid and knelt down next to her. "Who was that? What did he want? Why did he hurt you?"

Malon moaned again but this time not from pain. She looked at Link with an irritated look and groaned. "I don't know and I don't care, just help me with this." She said pointing to her arm. Link sighed but tore a piece of his tunic and gently wrapped it around her arm. She surveyed it carefully and then stood up, beginning to walk away.

"Wait Malon!" Link quickly ran over to catch up with her.

"What now?"

"Malon look, I know you're still angry with me for what I did back there and the truth is I didn't really mean to hurt you like that and I… I'm really sorry. Do you forgive me?"

Malon rolled her eyes and went on without responding to Link.

_'Urg does she ever listen?'_ Link thought. "Come on Malon why don't you just listen to me?"

She turned around and opened her mouth to say something but then she just shrugged and waved her hand as if to say forget it.

Link groaned. "Come on Malon, I just saved your sorry ass out there. The least you could do is say thanks or maybe even tell me where you're going."

Malon stopped, crossed her arms and turned around. "I didn't need your help out there you know, so I don't need to thank you or anything."

Link snorted then couldn't help but laugh. "Come on Malon. What would you have done without me? Besides you do owe me a lot of thank yous."

"Like what?"

"Well first of all you never thanked me for buying you all those clothes, paying for everything and when we were young for doing all those errands for you. Oh and don't forget that time when I chased away those killer chickens so they wouldn't hurt you." Malon gave him an odd stare then turned away and walked off.

"You've got to be kidding me." Link said to himself.

Malon sighed. She really did want to apologize to him but she just couldn't… She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Link following her.

"Stop following me Link."

"Malon what's wrong with you why are you acting this way?"

Malon sighed and then was slightly taken back as she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist.

"Link what are you—"

"I won't let you go until you tell me what's wrong." Link interrupted with a slight smile on his face.

Malon groaned and had to try her best not to giggle. She eventually succeeded and agreed to tell Link what was wrong.

"First though I don't want to tell you… here. Let's go somewhere else."

Link nodded and followed Malon as they traveled toward, well, where ever she decided to take them. There was no word said as they walked there, yet Link seemed to be enjoying the calm gentle sound of the rain.

Finally when they did arrive at the place, Lake Hylia, Malon motioned for Link to follow her and he did so. Looking at the silver coated water he felt a tinge of uncertainty in his stomach that told him that something unusual was going to happen tonight.

"Now, you have to keep your promise Malon, what's bothering you besides the fact that we just got attacked by some weirdo in a cape."

He smiled but she didn't return the favor. She looked downward with a grim expression on her face and frowned. "Link, that person that attacked us… he… I feel as if I've seen him before."

Link was startled now. "What do you mean you've seen him before?'"

Malon was reluctant to answer. _'Should I let him know? What if I can't trust him?'_ She sighed. "I don't know if I want to talk about it."

"What do you mean? You know you can trust me Malon. Besides you promised." Malon rolled her eyes and unwillingly told him her story.

"Look, a few days ago I had a dream. I remember it very clearly still. I was standing in the center of some forest clearing or something like that and there were these two paths that were before me and... There were also two figure standing on the paths, they only looked like outlines of people, one was indigo and one was golden. But there was something strange about them… their eyes. They had piercing gray eyes that almost made shivers run up my spine. As I stood there before them they commanded I choose which path that was behind them to go on. I didn't and they… They lifted up their weapons and destroyed everything, including me." She looked at him. Link had a very serious look on his face.

"But what could any of this have to do with what just happened?"

"I'm not done yet. The next morning, after the dream I had, I went for a short walk with Scarlet, my horse. Then I saw something. In the forest I saw a bright flash and the same golden figure that was in my dream appeared after that. So once he ran off into the forest I followed him and that's when it happened."

"What happened?" Link was anxious to know.

"Well I was led into a forest clearing where I saw another flash and the indigo figure appeared. But after that… everything gets blurry and I don't remember a single thing that happened. I just remember waking up to find Maku and Zuku in front of me and that's it."

Link was silent for a moment, disturbed in a shock of bewilderment, and confusion. Finally he said, "I still don't get how this relates to what just happened."

Malon sighed. "Link didn't you see that man? Didn't you look into his eyes? They were just the same as the men in my dream and the forest. I'm almost certain that they were the same person." Malon looked around cautiously, as if maybe he might show up suddenly again, and then looked back at Link. He had his mouth wide open as if to say something but no words came out. He finally thought up something to say.

"Malon are you sure about this you know you could be wrong. This could just be a coincidence. I mean I've had random enemies attack me out of the blue and threaten to come back but they never did." He looked into her eyes and for a moment they just stared at each other until Malon quickly stood up and turned ready to leave.

"I should have known you wouldn't believe me." She began to walk away but Link grabbed her arm. Unfortunately for him it was the hurt one and as he grabbed it she cried out in pain.

"Link what are you trying to do kill me! I'm leaving now okay. So deal with it."

"C'mon I'm saying that I don't believe you… it's just that…" He trailed off.

"Just what? You just don't believe me isn't that it?" She gave him an angry glare and began to walk away from him again.

"Wait Malon." She stopped.

"What?" She turned to face him.

"I'm sorry."

"Hmm?"

"I know I've made just about everything bad for you today, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know I was a real jerk back at the market , and now I'm really sorry for not believing you. But it's just that… I don't know, I guess this is just all so sudden and besides you can't blame me for not believing you. I mean if I told you that story for the first time would you believe me?"

She sighed and crossed her arms. "I guess you're right but…" She looked back at him and slowly pushed some wet hair out of her face, "I still don't understand why you came here to hear my story. Why don't you just go back to your other date? It's not like I want or need you here anyway." She waited for his response.

"So you still don't see why I want to be here with you? Why do you think I saved you from that guy Malon? Because you were in danger, and when I finally saved you, you just weren't acting the same. I don't know about you but I'm not the type of person that just leaves their friend like that. If that guy had continued to try and hunt you down, even after I beat him, and you got hurt, I'd have myself to blame for that. Malon we're best friends and we always have to have each other's backs. We gotta be there for each other. I can't just ditch you. Do you get my point?"

She smiled at him and he surprisingly walked up to her and embraced her in a warm hug. "You know I love you right Malon?" She giggled.

"Of course I do. And I love you just like you love me so I guess we're even."

He pulled her closer. "I'm really sorry Malon…"

She closed her eyes.

"Sorry about what? Link I've already forgiven you so you have nothing to be sorry about. Nothing."

"No, you don't understand. This time it's not about your story but it's about… all the promises to you that I've broken." He pulled away and looked into her crystal colored eyes.

"But Link you—"

"Malon," he interrupted, "Look I know you may not have noticed for the pat years but I have broken many promises to you and one that's really big. I'm just so sorry."

"But Link I can't remember the last time you've ever broken a promise to me."

He sighed. "Don't you remember it at all? Think back. Remember the day that I told you that I'd always be there for you?"

Malon looked into his eyes and slowly thought back to that day, seven years ago.

**--Flashback--**

"Hey fairy boy! You're back!" Malon quickly ran over to Link, almost tripping as she did, but she didn't care. It didn't matter anyway because he was back. Finally after all those days of waiting he was back.

After a short conversation of what he had been doing and whew he had been, Malon and Link finally seated themselves inside the barn and were talking about things that… well who knows.

"Link, Epona's been sick lately and I've been worried about her. So… do you think you could stay just a bit longer and help me take care of her? Please?" Malon asked with a smile.

Link scratched his head. "Um… uh… well, you see Malon I do have to get going soon… I mean I do kinda have to leave like now."

Malon immediately stopped smiling. "Ah, come on it can't be that important can it?

"Well maybe not I guess I could just let everyone down and not save out world from being destroyed."

Malon sighed. "Fine. But you can stay for at least the rest of the day, can't you?" She gave him a pleading puppy face.

"Well… I don't know about that…"

"But you just got here!"

"I know but Malon you do understand don't you?"

She groaned. "Sure I do."

Link stood up. "All right then, how about we make a promise?"

"What? A promise?"

"Yeah sure how about um…"

"Wait I know! How bout you promise to always be there for me. Oh it'll be so romantic!"

Link blushed. "Err, I dunno Malon that sounds kind of dumb. Are you sure you don't want me to promise you some doughnuts or something normal?"

Malon rolled her eyes. "That is normal, and that's what I want so you have to promise me that you'll keep it, K?"

"Fine." Link said reluctantly and they shook on it.

**--End Flashback**--

Malon looked away from him and could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "Link…"

"I'm sorry Malon. I'm just so sorry. Even today I broke another promise made to you. I promised this would be the best date you've ever been on, but I broke that too." He looked down at her.

"Link it's all in the past it doesn't matter anyway. You don't have to worry…"

"Yes it does matter Malon, and I'm going to make it up to you..."

Without waiting to hear what she had to say Link quickly leaned forward and kissed her. At first gently, he slowly pressed his lips to hers and continued pulling her so close he could smell her sweet aroma. He wrapped his strong arms around her body, feeling a nice tingling sensation between him and her. She slowly found herself getting absorbed in the kiss and kissed him back. They both suddenly felt an odd yet pleasant emotion as they both shared their first kiss together that would someday create a powerful indestructible bond between them. They stayed like that for a while and finally they pulled away and looked into each others eyes.

--

Garnet: ……. That's it?

Chel Bel: Mmm yep, left ya at a cliff hanger… sort of

Garnet: You know you're so called fans are going to hate you for this.

Chel Bel: Exactly and that's why they have to REVIEW! Sadly, though, I don't think I'll be updating anytime soon because of my lack of interest in this. I think it's just a phase or something but I'm not lying. If I get ultimately good encouraging reviews then I might push myself to continue. Otherwise sorry people, but waiting never hurt anyone :(

Garnet: Right… Hey where'd Matthew go anyway?

Chel Bel: Oh I just sent him to do a couple of errands for me :D

Garnet: Like what?

Chel Bel: Well I sent him to the store, Taco Bell, the Laundry Matt, the Library, the pet store, the candy store, on a hike, through the forest, the ocean, to Tokyo and back… and he should be here in oh say 1 more minute.

Garnet: o…k…

Chel Bel: 5…4…3…2…1… Awww, he's one minute late. Looks like I'll just have to randomly pick someone else to take his place. Hmm… how about… Cloud (FF7) =and with her amazing authoress powers she makes Cloud appear=

Cloud: Oh shit not you…

Chel Bel: Yep it's me! Now go make me some potato chips and hop to it!

Cloud: …

Chel Bel: Well peeps REVIEW!!!! And tell me what you think. I know the last part was veeeeeeeeeeeeeeery corny, cheesy what ever you may think, but please don't flame me about that. Oh and tell me what you thought on that and the battle scene. PLEASE give me tips for that. I'm still open to any suggestions so email me if you must. Next chappie shall be up if lots of REVIEWS (encouraging good ones) are sent in. Well…

Till next!

_--__Chelsea--___


	6. Complications, Secrets and that Red Rose

Bla Bla Bla…

O yea, I'm back! Aren't you happy!

Garnet: No

That wasn't very nice starts to munch on potato chips Cloud made her Anyway I hope you like this chapter. Bla bla bla you don't want to hear me babble. On with the comments!

**the dark eyed one**- I'm one of your favorite authors? I feel so special. Thanks a lot :)

**JoJo10-** You're always so nice to me. I think I suck but I have to listen to my reviewers or they'll come at me with knives and pitchforks XP

**Anna-Elena: Starlight Chaos**- Ok, ok, no elvish mafias please :P

**Everyone else**: THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Disclaimer- For the last time I own nothing now leave me alone goes in the corner and sulks

Let's get started then!

**Chapter Six: Complications, Secrets and that Red Rose**

"Link…" Malon whispered as she looked him in the eyes after they slowly parted from each other. She didn't have a very happy look on her face, yet it was not of anger either. All she could do was stare at him… he had just kissed her. This had to be a dream. It couldn't be real. But it was indeed real, wasn't it? Then why had he done it? It was certainly unexpected. For the time being, though, she just continued to gaze into his eyes, admiring his blue orbs.

Link appeared to be at a lost of words himself. He didn't know what to say. All he could do was stare at her. Gazing at her so long he noticed… how beautiful she was… ah yes she was so beautiful. More beautiful than… than beauty itself. Her eyes, that angel face, her smile. Oh, no what was he thinking. This was the exact way he had fallen in love with Zelda. He couldn't and wouldn't have another relationship right now. It would only end up the same as his first had.

Soon, confused, he slowly began to back away from her, trying to avoid the confused gaze she gave him.

"Link where are you…" She began but didn't have to continue as she saw him quickly whip out his ocarina and play a soft song on it. Glancing up at her once more before he left, he could see a single tear roll down her face, and suddenly, popping back into reality, he knew this was a choice he would soon regret. But before he could say or do anything to stop the process he was gone, leaving a confused, lost Malon behind.

A few minutes later as the feeling sank in; Malon fell to her knees and wept. Her best friend had just left her alone. Abandoned her. Heartbroken.

--

_Link searched around himself, wondering where he was. He could move but… whenever he did, some kind of blackness seemed to suck him up and return him to the place he was at first. There was no one else around here he noticed… or was there?_

_"Hello? Is anyone here?" There was no answer to his question. Only silence followed. He kept on looking around in this black place, for something, anything. Suddenly there was a sound. Weeping was it? He was able to make his way to the sound this time when he heard it. Slowly as he turned a corner, or that's what it seemed to be, he saw her. Fiery red hair, angel-like skin… it was Malon._

_"Malon… what's wrong?" here was no answer to his question. She only kept at it with her head in her legs and her arms wrapped around them._

_"You should leave now. She doesn't want you here." Link looked around, anxious to see who had just spoken to him. He spotted her. She looked exactly like Malon, only much more ghost-like and with an unreadable expression on her face._

_"Who are you?" Link asked visibly shocked to see another Malon. _

_"I am Malon… her inner thoughts that is. You can not talk to her now. She wishes not to see you."_

_"But… why?"_

_He was shot a cruel look from her. "What do you think you asshole? You've practically broken her inside. You've torn her up into little shreds. She's heart broken because of what you did to her. Just leave now before you make her even more upset."_

_Link looked dumbfounded. "But I didn't mean to! I was confused. I had no clue what I was to do. It can't be all my fault."_

_"It is though. She thought you loved her, cared for her. But then she finally popped back into reality and she now knows that it was nothing more than a silly little dream of hers. Just like all of her others…" she glanced down at the weeping Malon than looked back up to face Link, a hint of hostility coating her voice. "She knows she will never be loved by you."_

_Link clenched his fist and teeth. How could anyone be so cruel to say all that about Malon? His Malon. How dare they call her some kind of dreaming fool? Why would anyone be so cold hearted, relentless enough to do that? "How dare you! How could you say something like that? It's not true. Bull shit! That's all it is! You liar!"_

_ The Malon figure stayed calm and was quiet for a while. Finally she spoke again to him. "No Link it's true. She no longer wants you as her hero Link. She no longer loves you. She wants you to go away." At those words Link was shocked. She no longer loved him? Wanted him to go away? Was this true? It… it couldn't be. Slowly then the ghostly figure, Malon's thoughts began to disappear, leaving him only with the weeping Malon._

_She slowly looked up from where she was crying and stared at him. Her eyes were clouded and blurry as if she had had the life sucked out of her. When she opened her mouth to speak her words were sad and melancholy, unlike her usual energetic, sweet ones. "Please Link; I don't want you here with me. Just go now… please." She lifted up her hand and put it in front of him. She slowly began to push him away with the force of her mind and he slowly faded out of her sight. Away from her forever, soon to be devoured by the living beast she had sent out to kill him._

_--_

Link awoke the next morning with a start. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead. He looked around only to find he was still in his own bed, back in the Kokiri Forest, thankfully. He immediately thought of his dream. It pained him just to think about Malon crying like that, or even thinking about herself in that way, just because of something he had done. But… it was only a dream wasn't it? That couldn't possibly happen in real life could it? Did she really love him before any of this? There were just too many details he had to sort out. All in all he knew what he had done was wrong. What if she never forgave him? That was it. He needed some help on this and he knew exactly who to go to for it.

After getting dressed and eating he decided that it was about time to go now. He slowly got up and looked out his window, seeing two of the Kokiri children playing together. Despite himself he smiled. Those two actually reminded him of… oh no… Maku and Zuku. He had left them all alone in the forest. Who knew what kind up mischief they were up to. He sighed and climbed out of the little house. They would just have to make do without him for a few more hours.

Just then as he was about to leave another thought occurred. The Master Sword. Chronos had thrown it off into the field that night. Now what was he suppose to do? "Damnit." He quietly whispered under his breath. How stupid of him. Anyone could have found it by now. "Damnit, Damnit, Damnit." He scowled looked around once more and then began to head out of his home.

--

As daylight approached and she awoke Malon rubbed her eyes gently and looked around her room, a small sob managing to escape her mouth. She suddenly remembered everything as all of last nights events went through her mind again. After making her way back home she had practically cried herself to sleep, thinking about the one thing that seemed to linger in her mind and just wouldn't go away. Link. In those few moments she had been awake to think she had finally come to conclusion to why she was so miserable. The reason was… it was that she loved Link. When they had kissed… something had just clicked. It felt so perfect, unusual yet pleasant. She had always known she had loved him but somehow managed to shrug it off. But yesterday… it had happened. Her dream had come true. To be kissed by her,

"Hero…" she slowly mouthed. But something wasn't right. If she had felt that… click, then wouldn't he have? Her mother had always said that once you find the person you love you'll know it, that you'd experience an indescribable emotion when you kissed him. And that's just what had happened to her. She had felt an indescribable emotion, yet something was wrong. The second part her mother had said was that he, most likely, would feel it too. And that was just the thing that confused her. If she had felt it he would have too, right? But if he had than why had he… she lye back down. This was too much to think about right now. Slowly she went into another sleep, knowing that somehow she would figure this out.

--

"Oh no..." Maku said looking up from the food he was eating and being still as ever. Zuku glanced up at him and turned to see what his brother was looking at, suddenly seeing why Maku had said what he did. Before them was a man dressed in a yellow tunic, that was revealed by a dark cloak, the hood over his head. He had a long sword for a weapon. Zuku bravely stood up before the man and asked, "What is it you want?" The man laughed.

"So I see you don't remember me. Young Maku, Zuku." The boys both gave him an odd stare and then, realizing who he was, looked at him in horror.

"Zero…" They both whispered. He laughed again and then pulled back his hood.

"I guess you're not as naive as you appear to be."

"Wha-what do you want here?" Zuku asked once again.

"Hm," Zero looked around and frowned. "Where is he?"

"Who?"

He shot them a cruel stare, "Don't be so stupid! The one whom you call Link." They both looked at each other and shrugged.

"Dunno."

"Don't know you say?"

"Yeah he left yesterday with Malon when they went to the market on a da--" Maku stopped as a hand was placed in front of his face to silence him by his brother.

"Like we said Zero, we don't know where he is. Maybe if you go drown yourself in a lake, though, we'll let you know where he really lives." Zuku finished with a slight smirk crossing his face.

Zero laughed sourly. "Witty are we? You're lucky I'm not in such a bad mood today. You do realize I could destroy you and this whole forest right now if I wanted to don't you?" Both boys gulped and nodded.

"Good." Smirking he created a large ball of energy and gave them ominous glares. "I'll be back tomorrow. By then you better know where he is or else. By the way, thanks for letting me know that Malon and Link are now together." Throwing the ball far off into the field and waiting for it to explode, he quickly disappeared from them, leaving the two alone to think about what they would now do.

"Zero's back Maku… you know what that means." Maku nodded but looked at Zuku sadly.

"But what if… I don't want to fail like we did last time." Zuku sighed.

"We won't, I promise. But first we need to find… Malon."

--

Link was quite pissed right now. Confused and very, very pissed. He had decided that he would go see Zelda for some of his troubles with Malon, deciding that maybe she could help him. After all when they had dated she had said that she was an expert on the whole "love" subject, and he had believed her. He just really hoped she would be willing to help him with this. He really wasn't able to tell if she had liked Malon last night and Zelda did want to get back together with him, which could cause something bad to happen. Maybe it would be better if he didn't tell Zelda who the person he was having troubles with was. Well this was the only choice he had to take, so he might as well take it.

There was, however, something else that bothered him. How the hell was he supposed to get back the master sword? And where was it right now? What about Malon? If that guy had been telling the truth about coming back to get her, than… Link stopped dead in his tracks. Chronos had seemed dead set on taking her. Where had he been planning to take Malon anyway? What could he have wanted with her? And what if…

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't left her like that last night…" He was quickly interrupted when he heard a sudden flapping above his head and the annoying sound of a bird calling his name. Kaepora Gaebora. Link sighed and looked up, wondering what the dumb bird wanted with him now.

"Hoo, hoo Link! Up here hoo, hoo, hoo!

"I see you Kaepora, now what do you want?" Link sighed as Kaepora began to rave on about well… nothing in particular.

"Oh Link isn't it a nice day today? Why, I was just flying around today when I noticed how quite nice it was. So I decided I'd fly around and tell everybody how nice a day it was today. I remember I was flying over the castle when I spotted a guard; oh he looked very nice today. Have I ever told you how nice some of those guards look? They must look like that because they protect the princess. Oh I hear she's quite a looker she is. Yes, yes she is. Have you ever seen her wearing that pink dress of hers? Oh yes it certainly is my favorite dress to see her in. But I don't know, perhaps I like her blue one more, or the green, wait no! The one I like the best is the one with the purple frilly collar, only I hardly ever see her wear that one… hmm… I wonder why she wouldn't want to wear such a beautiful silk dress. Have you ever wondered where we got our silk from? Well I don't know exactly but I think silk would look quite nice on you Link. I've heard that silk does well for your skin, haven't you heard that? Oh it is such a shame that we birds cannot where silk, and you know another thing is—"

"KAEPORA GAEBORA WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST TELL ME WHY YOU'RE HERE!!!" Link shouted, getting even more pissed then before.

For a long time Kaepora Gaebora just stared at Link, an awkward silence beginning to pass through the two of them. He looked around and then at Link with a serious expression on his face. Suddenly he cocked his head to the side, "Actually I've seemed to have forgotten…"

Link fell over.

"What do you mean you forgot!? I've had to stand here and listen to YOU, yes YOU Kaepora mumble on about nothing and when you finally finish you say you forgot why you came here in the first place! Look, I'd really like to stay and chat but I've really got to go find my Master Sword."

"Oh yes, hoo, hooo, hooo, Link! That's it, hoo, hoo!"

Link groaned. "What's it?"

"I came to deliver this to you." With that he took out something wrapped in a cloth with his beak and dropped it down to Link. As Link caught it and unwrapped, it he was surprised to see his sword lying there without any scratch. It was in mint condition.

"Yes, I found that today lying in the field. I took it to be repaired and now I have completed the task of handing it over to you."

"Err… thanks I guess." Link muttered, looking over the sword again and again.

Kaepora looked rather pleased with himself and began to once again babble on. "Oh, I am so glad that you said thank you. What a polite fellow you are. You know I do know some people that aren't as polite as you. Like this one man, oh I do not remember his name, but I do not believe you would know him. He lives off in the south. Far south of here. Have you ever visited the south? It is quite nice down there. Anyway I was trying to talk to the person, but he told me to buzz off because I was annoying him. Do you think I am annoying by any chance, Link? ... Link?"

Link was gone.

--

Malon lazily sat up in bed and brushed the hair away from her eyes. For a while it took her some time to regain her vision but as she did she sighed and climbed out of bed, getting ready for the day. Chores. How she hated getting up to do them constantly at the same time everyday. She had never complained about them but… she especially didn't want to do them on a day like this.

As usual once she walked down the stairs she was greeted with a snort from Ingo, surprising him as she ate her breakfast quietly and made no witty remark to him about his rudeness. Getting up she slowly began to wash the dishes and heard Ingo snort once again as he left, leaving her to think more on… Link. _'I sure wish I knew if he's thinking about me right now…' _She thought, the fact that the water ,was scorching hot on her fingers not bothering her in the least. _'Ugh! Why do I even care? I'm so over him now anyway… I think…' _She scowled a little as the water's heat began to burn her hands and she snatched them away, drying them and leaving the dishes to soak.

When she stepped outside she saw her father loading things on his old horse, getting ready to head to the market. Right away he spotted her.

"Oh, hi sugar puff! I was just on my way to the market but I was wondering… you think maybe you could run a few errands for me there and, uh, I could finish your chores here?" He gave her a hopeful smile, knowing how stubborn she could be at times.

"Sure… why not." She said hesitantly. In an instant Talon was gone, glad that he could get someone else to do work for him while he relaxed around the house, as usual…

"Lazy old man." Malon mumbled and despite herself she laughed. Hm, well then, it looked like she was indeed recovering from yesterday. Why would she be laughing if she was still upset? She smiled and chuckled to herself on her way out. Bah, who needed men anyway?

--

Link stared at the two large gates before him. The castle. Sure had been a while since he'd come here. He cocked his head to the side and then shrugged his shoulders. As he walked over to the gate the guard wasted no time to let him in.

"Sure is good to see you back here, Link. The princess has been missing you." Obviously he hadn't been informed about their breakup. The other guards treated him like an outsider.

"Yeah, thanks Nick." He mumbled and walked on towards the castle. He was awfully curious to see what Zelda would say once he asked her for help. He knew she might be mad but he hoped not mad enough to send him away.

As he arrived at the courtyard he spotted Zelda staring at her reflection in the water. He quietly stepped in behind her.

"…Zelda…" She immediately spun around at the sound of his voice and smiled at him.

"Link." There was a mild silence until Zelda broke it. With a worried expression on her face she asked.

"Is Malon all right now? She seemed very upset when she left yesterday."

Link glanced down at his boots, seeming to take a sudden interest in them. "Yeah… she's all right I suppose." He looked back up at Zelda, immediately changing the subject. "However, the reason I came to you was for some advice."

"Ok. What do you need?"

"I've been having a few problems lately… girl problems…" The smile that seemed to be creeping onto Zelda's face immediately vanished.

For a moment, when she was silent, Link began to think that maybe she was getting ready to go on some kind of rampage to try and kill him, but he decided that that definitely would not happen. Surely she wasn't that mad at him. She sighed at sat back down beginning to twist a small daisy around her fingers. "I can help you. You'll have to give me a bit of info though." She said dully, still playing with the flower.

He sat down beside her. "Well…" he said thoughtfully. "She's really mad at me. I know that for sure. What I did… I kissed her and then afterwards I just walked away. It was strange, I was just so confused."

Zelda ran her hands through her hair as she thought about this. "Well if I know any ordinary girl she's probably as confused as you are, probably a little hurt too. For a while you might want to give her some space to let her calm down but anyway you put it you're going to have to apologize to her."

"But how do I? She's probably not going to just forgive me right away."

Zelda stood back up and looked at him. "Well that's up to you. It depends on how you want to do it."

He stood up also. "All right. Thanks for your help Zelda. You always were such a big help to me. I appreciate it." With that he gave her a quick hug and left before she had a chance to say another word.

Zelda just stood there for a moment and thought about how lucky the girl was. "I bet it was Malon he was talking about. He makes it so obvious. She sure is lucky to have him… I just hope everything works out for them. All I want is for Link to be happy." And without another thought she sat back down, staring into her reflection, a single tear drop running down her face.

--

"Zuku… here's a question for you, where exactly does Malon live? She may have told us but… I don't remember where…"

"Hm…" Zuku looked around anxiously. He wanted to answer his brother's question but he didn't exactly remember himself. "Uh, we'll find her soon enough. Just follow me for now." Maku sighed but nodded obediently by his brother's orders and quickly caught up to him to talk a little bit.

"So… um, Zuku… how are we going to tell all this to Malon. She'll probably freak out and we can't possibly tell her about what happened to her mother. Although her father might be some help to comfort her."

For a small amount of time Zuku was silent. He examined the place they were at carefully and turned down a path with Maku at his heels. "As far as I see it we just tell her everything as it is. There's not other way to do it anyway. It's either we tell her all the facts or we leave out some and she ends up having to learn them the hard and dangerous way… like her mother, who was sadly a sacrifice. We can't let Malon have that same fate, although I'm pretty sure she won't…"

Maku's eyes widened at this. "Wow… do you mean she could possibly be… the one? That is so awesome!" Zuku looked at his brother and sighed.

"Yeah, think about it Maku. There's something really different about this girl. The moment we brought her to the clearing, as I stared at her I immediately felt that something about her was very peculiar. Anyway we've got to be extra careful if she is the one. Zero and Chronos… those monsters… knowing them they'll probably sneak up on her when least expected and either take her away if they find out before us that she is the one, or just kill her and use her as a sacrifice. We have to find her as soon as possible. If she is the one that could cause problems beyond belief. Do you know what Zero and Chronos would do with all of their clan resurrected? Or a whole army of resurrected monsters? If that is what they intend to do with her power than… first they'd probably try to slay everyone and then they'd… Urg! I can't even talk about. We just have to find Malon as quickly as we can. There's no other way." Maku nodded in agreement. Now, no doubts about Malon being the one crossed his mind. He trusted his brother and believed in his judgment. They only had to hurry now.

--

"Those worthless little mice, Maku and Zuku. Pah, I'll bet their going to look for that pathetic mortal Malon to tell her everything. I should have killed them when I had the chance."

Chronos looked at his brother, who appeared by his side, with an emotionless face that was highly unreadable. "It would seem now, that this Malon is alone. I could go retrieve her for you if that is what you wish." Zero shot his brother a most threatening glance that could kill.

"Funny now, that you would say that after I already assigned you that task twice and both times you have failed me." Chronos turned around and gazed out at the lake that surrounded the island the two brothers stood upon right now, his expression still unreadable. Zero sent his bother's back a glare, almost wanting to destroy him completely.

"Did you at least complete the task of giving her the pill?"

Chronos was silent, and then he responded shortly. Yes."

"Good then. At least I can start from somewhere." He smiled then laughed bitterly, causing his brother to turn and stare at him.

"You know Chronos. The sooner we get this all done, the sooner we're able to carry out our wishes. As a matter a fact, why don't I go and find our little Malon now. The sooner the better." With that all said he quickly disappeared from Chronos's sight.

"Hopeless fool." Chronos whispered then he proceeded to look out across the lake.

--

"Hey Maku come here!" Maku quickly ran over to his brother as his name was called.

"What is it Zuku?"

"I think we've found who we're looking for!" Maku glanced up to see what Zuku was talking about. There off a little into the distance was a young red haired girl on a horse. She slowly got off of it to let it get a drink from stream and then stared off into the open field.

"I'm pretty sure that's Malon. Odd though, that she'd be by herself."

"Why's that odd?" Maku questioned, obviously dumbfounded.

"It's nothing. Come on, let's go meet her!"

--

The moment Malon saw two little figures running towards her she didn't even know what to expect. So many strange things had been happening to her lately, she wouldn't be surprised if it was some kind of alien coming to abduct her for an experiment. But as both of them came into view she was more than a little relieved to see that it was just Maku and Zuku. She had actually missed seeing Maku's blonde head of curls and Zuku's straight black one.

"You guys', what's wrong?" she said immediately as she saw the worried expressions on their faces. They both panted a little to catch their breath and almost instantly Zuku asked her, "Where is Link? Shouldn't he be here with you? Why are you here all alone? Did Chronos try to attack you yesterday?"

"Wait, wait, slow down. What are you guys trying to say?"

"Malon, there's something we have to tell you. It's important so listen up." Zuku stated seriously.

"What? I don't understand. What are you guys getting at? How'd you know about Chronos?"

"So he did attack her…" Maku trailed.

"Malon… do you… is Link anywhere around here?" Malon flushed red in anger at the sound of his name, and immediately they knew the answer.

"Did something happen between you two? Maku asked curiously.

"Does the whole world need to know?"

"Malon… do you live around here? Zuku asked. She nodded and pointed.

"Over at that ranch. As a matter of fact, I was just on my way back there. Why don't you two come with me and we can discuss things there."

"Good idea. Come now Maku. Malon has to know about this as soon as possible."

--

"So are you two going to tell me or are you going to stand there and stare all day?" Malon said as she seated herself in a chair in the living room. The boys looked at each other nervously.

Zuku hesitantly spoke up. "I'll just start right at the point. First of all we know of all these strange things that have been happening to you. We know about your dream, your first encounter with Zero and Chronos, your vision, everything."

"But… how? And who is… Zero?"

"You remember Chronos right? Well he has a brother. Both are ruthless, cold hearted killers. It's hard to decide who's crueler." Maku answered.

Malon's eyes grew wide and confusion clouded them, but still she said nothing.

Maku and Zuku glanced at each other nervously again, as if there was something on their minds that they just couldn't decide how to tell her. Anyway," Zuku began again, "We know all this because... well I'll get to that later," Malon nodded. "Here's a little background information on these two. Chronos and Zero come from a tribe full of deadly assassins and such. They're all non-human. About over 400 years ago, the tribe was wiped out and those two were the only survivors. They both grew up to be strong warriors as they are now and assassinated anything in their path just for fun. They were …the ones that destroyed our clan."

A look of sadness crossed Malon's face but she still stayed as stubborn as ever. "What are you talking about? You're saying that 400 years ago there were clans? I don't believe it. Besides what could any of this have to do with me?"

They both sighed. "Yes there were clans around here a long time ago. Most people around here are from them but they don't know it. Shortly after Chronos and Zero grew up all clans split up and people went their separate ways. Also you should believe us because well, could you think of any other explanation to all the weird things that have been happening to you lately?" Maku said.

Malon was silent and clutching a pillow to her chest she looked out the window at the many stars that highlighted it already. She shook her head.

"Well anyway," Zuku began again, "It turns out that you are a descendant of an ancient clan such as theirs and the problem is that your clan was the one that destroyed theirs. So for years they have been trying to seek out the few of your remaining people for revenge, until just about 200 years ago hey found out about one secret that would change things forever. You see, your people have a special power. A power so great that one could, if they wished, destroy the entire human race. This power is the power of resurrection. It is said that one person out of many in your tribe has a mysterious power to perform this and resurrect any amount of people they wish. To many people this could seem like an amazing thing, however it is also dangerous. If someone or something is to be resurrected a certain ritual is to be performed. The ritual itself is life threatening, although we don't exactly know all the details. Luckily they haven't yet found the person but they're still trying to find him or her. Now though, you're their next target and are in more danger than ever." Zuku paused and let Maku do some of the talking.

"Who knows what they'd do with that power. We're almost certain it's to resurrect all of their bloodthirsty tribe and go on a killing spree. That's not all though. One more thing is that the rest of your people that they have found that weren't the one have been used as sacrifices, in order to extend their own lives. They live off of other people and things at least that's what Zuku and I believe. There is a lot more to tell you but… it's probably better if you didn't know. We can't be too sure but we think that you're… well I think you can guess where this is going…"

Malon clutched the pillow closer to her chest. "So… you're suggesting that I may be…the one?"

Zuku nodded.

"Then," she glanced up at the two and then looked away. "Who are you two? How do you know all this… what are you?"

Zuku took a deep breath. "We are… your protectors. That is the one task placed upon us currently, to protect you. Both of us, as you probably guessed, are much older than we appear. We also know special protecting attacks and such. They're not that strong but… we can make do with them. In case you're wondering how we didn't know and why we didn't tell you about this in the first place is because we hadn't really suspected you to be "the one" when we met. We thought you were a normal teenage girl that may have gotten lost in the forest and passed out somehow. It wasn't until last night that we had a dream and saw it all. We finally found out who you really were." Malon ran her hands through her hair and gave an apprehensive sigh.

"This is so much to take in. Are you sure all of this is true? It's just so strange knowing that I really am or may be something this great. I-I don't know what to think." She clutched the pillow tighter and finally the tears that had welled up in her eyes began to fall. Maku and Zuku looked at each other, feeling bad for having to place such a huge burden on her shoulders. They watched as she slowly got up from the couch and left to her room, without saying another word to them.

--

Link sighed as he sat down at the bar he had gone to and began to think. Hard. He had to face Malon to apologize, yet he had no clue how to confront her. _'I wonder if she's real broken up about the whole situation.'_ He thought, absentmindedly toying around with a loose strand of hair. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a nice looking girl suddenly walk in to meet her boyfriend who, in return, gave her some flowers. The couple kissed and walked out. _Maybe I should give her a special gift or something… but then again I don't think any present could make up for what I did to her.' _Sighing Link stood up and walked out of the bar.

Unexpectedly as he walked out a young girl with red hair and blue eyes scampered up to him and gave him a wide smile, handing him a red rose. He extended his hand and took it, thanking her and then turning to leave. Then, suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. _'A red rose… Malon's favorite kind of flower…'_

"Excuse me sir."

Link turned around and saw the little girl looking up at him. "You look sad mister. Is something wrong?"

He smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," He stooped down to her level, "You see, my friend and I are having some problems and I was just going to apologize to her."

"That's nice. If me and my friend were in a fight I'd say sorry too. You should give her that flower. I think all people like flowers. They make me happy and I'm sure it will make her happy too."

Link chuckled lightly. "That's really nice of you. I think I might do that. What's your name anyway?"

She giggled. "My name is Marin sir. I hope you and your friend make up. Anyway I have to go before my sister gets mad at me. Nice meeting you!" And with that she left, red hair blowing in the wind. Her sweet gaze never once leaving Link's mind.

Link smiled and began, once again, to head out of the market, clutching the flower tightly in his hand. As if never to let it go.

--

Well? Whad'ya think? I thought that was decent enough. The next chapter will be posted… whenever I feel like typing it. This chapter to tell you the truth was actually going to be longer but I decided to cut it short because this was all my fingers would allow me to type XP So I guess that kinda sucks for you. Remember to ask me questions and stuff if any of that confused you. Well, I'm at a small writers block right at the moment, but I assure you I'll get over it. In the mean time REVIEW!!

… Hmm… I wonder where all my muses got to… oh well…

Till Next!

Chelsea


	7. Tears and Tragedy

Well, I'm back again! Any-hoo before I start I'd like to mention that this chapter will be extremely long. Took me longer to write then I expected actually (I really had planned to get this up sometime in July…) Anyway this time reviewer comments will be at the bottom and I guess all I have to say is that I'm sorry this took me so long to update! Hope ya like!

**Disclaimer**- Awww, do I _have_ to? =gets hit with a bottle= Fine. I don't own Zelda, it's characters, rights, and all that other stuff

Read on and enjoy! :)

**Chapter Seven: Tears and Tragedy**

Malon sat on a stool by her mirror while slowly combing through her hair. It was usually so soft and silky but tonight the tangles in it were almost driving her mad! That wasn't the worst of her problems, though, she thought setting down the comb on her dresser. The worst of her problems was the fact that Chronos and Zero were after her, that Link had left her and that from now on she'd be living in the same house as Maku and Zuku, since they were, surprise, surprise, her protectors.

It was just so strange all of this. She still wasn't sure she believed all of it. Whenever she thought about it all, it felt as if her head was spinning from confusion. She just wished she had someone to talk to about this… and she couldn't help but wonder… if perhaps her mother had something to do with this… or maybe her father knew about this or… ack! Or maybe, or maybe. There were so many maybes, what ifs and other questions that piled sky high in her head.

She sighed, taking off her clothes and putting on a light navy blue nightgown. It was odd. Just a few days ago she had thought that she was just a normal girl with a normal and boring life, yet now she was some huge… thing that these psychos were after just so they could fulfill their own selfish wishes. She always wanted her life to be full of adventure and way more exciting than it was, but now that she finally had all she wished for… she wasn't quite sure she wanted it anymore.

As she gazed out her window she began to sing softly into the night. It was a slow song. A song of courage. A song that her mother had taught her when she was just a young girl. The words to it were slow and lyrical and seemed to make the moon in the sky shine brighter and the tiny stars that weren't showing at the time come out. She stopped singing and could feel a small tear well up in the corner of her eye, thinking of how her mother used to sing that song so well, but she quickly brushed it away and turned once she heard someone knocking on the door.

"Come in." She said quietly.

The door knob turned to reveal a very disturbed looking Talon who, for a moment, just stood there before coming in.

"Yes dad?" She said sitting on the bed and motioning for him to come sit next to her. He sat down.

"Um… Malon, do you by any chance know those two boys down there who are eating our food? Are they friends of yours perhaps?" Malon was silent and looked away for a moment.

"They're… just some boys I found on the streets. They'll be staying with us for a while since they have no where else to go, so just make due with them." Talon looked slightly suspicious but still said nothing. He then noticed that Malon's face held a sad expression and decided to address her about it.

"Malon, what's wrong sweetie?"

She quickly turned away from him so he wouldn't notice the small tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "There's nothing wrong dad." He wouldn't buy it.

"I don't think you'd be in tears if there was nothing wrong." Damn he was good

"I-It's nothing dad." She said, her voice beginning to get shaky. He still wasn't going to let it pass.

"Malon, you know you can tell me anything. I don't know if I'll be able to help as well as your mother was or give you a good answer or whatever, but still could you please tell me what's bothering you?" Malon sighed in defeat. At first she was quiet but decided to ask him a question instead of telling him straight out what the problem was.

"Have you ever been in a situation where… so many strange things are happening to you and you just can't seem to sort them all out because it's just too… confusing? And then before you know it, you can't even seem to figure out who you are? Or what you're supposed to do because you're just… lost? And you feel so alone, like there's no one who understands you anymore..." She trailed. Talon was silent as he looked into his daughter's deep azure eyes. She looked so desperate and distant, he felt sorry for her.

"I can't say that I've ever been in a situation like that myself, but if I was I'd probably stay away from people for a while, just to have some time to myself to think. Perhaps it wouldn't be all too bad if you could just figure out who you were first. That's the most important thing I think."

Malon was silent for a while, thinking about her father's words. Finally a question stirred up in her mind. "But how could you figure out who you are again?"

"I'm sure you can figure that one out." Talon said, getting back up. "Now get some sleep. See you in the morning. Oh and think you could uh… tell those two boys to stop eating all of our food." Malon sighed and nodded sleepily. Her father smiled and walked out of the room quietly. She yawned and slowly climbed into bed, hoping to have a peaceful sleep.

--

Zero had gotten to the ranch just in time to hear Maku and Zuku telling Malon about everything. He was too late, he concluded with a sneer. Now he'd have to wait until both idiots mistakenly left her alone, so they wouldn't get in his way as they tried to 'protect' her while he attacked. They were more annoying than anyone he had ever met. He sat down in the tallest tree he could find and put a hand under his chin, waiting. He was bored. He could go off and have a bit of fun destroying some people or things, but he just wasn't up to it. His main focus was Malon.

"Damnit." He whispered. If his idiot of a brother Chronos had done what he was supposed to in the first place, then they may have been halfway through the resurrection ceremony by now. The ceremony itself did indeed take a long time to do. Almost two days. However, even if Chronos had done as he was told, there wasn't a guarantee that the ceremony would be going on. If she wasn't the one they needed then all their work would have gone to waste. All she would have been was a sacrifice. That would still be all right, though, considering the fact that she would help extend their lives. But then again they would have to go out and search once more for 'the one'. He found it amusing to think, that when they had captured her mother all those years ago, she had already had a daughter. Back then they had been too inexperienced to think that maybe the daughter could have been the one they were looking for. So instead they had taken the mom only and she had ended up as a sacrifice.

It was only a few years ago, when they were once again looking for their next target that they both realized their mistake. Maybe since the mother had been part of the tribe, and the girl was her offspring… maybe this meant that the girl could be it! And now here they were, chasing after her with most clues pointing to the fact that she probably was the one. Zero felt a sudden joy spring forth within him. Finally, after all their work they would know the answer. There was also something else to help them find out what they wanted to know. The pill Chronos had given her. If she was the one, then when they fought her later on as he planned to do, once he started winning and she started losing, as he was sure would happen, a certain marking would appear on her head, which would tell him that she was it. Then he would take her away and everything would work out for the best. If none of that did happen though, then when she was close to death he would take her away, she'd end up as a sacrifice and… they'd once again start their search for the next target. He groaned at that and got up.

This was too boring. He wanted to go destroy something now. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a whole flock of birds fly up into the air. He smirked and flew after them, ready to roast some birdies.

--

Link looked up from the rock he sat on to the ranch, and then at the rose he held in his hand (which by the way was almost dead) and sighed. It was too late to see Malon now so he'd have to wait until morning to do so. Well, at least he still had a little time to think about what he was going to say. Just saying sorry and handing her this rose wasn't gonna cut it. He knew Malon better than that. If he simply did that then he was sure she'd never forgive him. But then again… if he went straight out and really apologized to her would she forgive him then? He shook his heads. Of course she would… yeah, she was his best friend. She would have to forgive him…

Link looked up at the moon in the sky, wondering what she was doing…

--

Meanwhile, as she lye awake in bed Malon couldn't help but think of Link. Where was he right now? She knew she shouldn't have but… she was almost expecting him to come and see her today. She was actually surprised when he didn't… but then again she had seen him in the market when she went to do errands for her father, walking to the castle. This shocked her a little bit too. And she couldn't help but feel like he had betrayed her. After all, what could he have been doing there? She really didn't want to think about it.

She turned to her side to try and get some sleep, shoving all the thoughts of Link out of her mind.

--

Malon awoke in the middle of the night gasping. What was wrong with her? She couldn't breathe! Gasping for air she rushed out of her room and into the bathroom, where she finally began to retrieve her breath. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw that she was soaking wt. Her hair was a mess and beads of sweat had begun to make their way down her forehead. She took a step back, suddenly racing to the toilet and vomiting into it. After that she flushed it and decided to go down to the kitchen to get a drink and try and recall on what had waken her up like this and what was happening. She looked down the hallway and began to shakily walk down it, almost stumbling and falling to the ground as she approached the stairway. She crept down it as quietly as possible as not to wake Maku and Zuku who were sleeping peacefully on the couch.

The kitchen was illuminated by the moon's light as it shined through the window. Malon quickly walked to the sink and filled the cup she had with water. She hesitated before drinking it, though. Strange, what was going on? Why couldn't she remember? And then it hit her. She had been having a nightmare. She remembered she was just falling. To where she didn't know but as she did fall she remembered being stabbed. Over and over again by people. People she knew. People she loved. And finally she had stopped falling and had been caught. By him. By Link. She remembered the exact words he had said when he caught her. '"It's all right. No one's going to hurt you anymore. I'll never hurt you anymore. Never."' She had smiled and stared at him, thinking all he had said was true, but of course it wasn't. He had then taken out a knife and stabbed her over and over, without ever stopping.

Suddenly she screamed and didn't even what she had done until she saw Maku and Zuku hurry up to her from the couch they were at and stare at her, wondering why she had screamed.

"Malon are you alright? Why'd you scream?" Zuku asked curiously.

"I-I feel… dizzy." She responded lifting her hand to her head and holding it there for a moment. Both boys looked at her and cocked their heads to the side until Maku's eyes grew wide and he pointed at her side, a worried expression creeping over his face.

"Malon what happened to you!?" Feeling the side where Maku was pointing, she felt a sudden aching and it felt as if her hand was being run through some kind of liquid. She quickly looked at her hand and gasped. Blood. Her blood. The two brothers were screaming questions at her but she heard none. The world was becoming… blurry. Everything kept getting bigger and bigger and then… too big. She fainted.

--

_'W-where am I? And… what happened? Urg! My… my side hurts… Am I in a bed? Ah, now I remember what happened… I had a nightmare… then I came down to the kitchen and there was blood on me… and then… and then what? I can't remember…' _Malon slowly opened her eyes to meet the big ones of Maku and Zuku. Surprised to see them both she shrieked, startling the two boys, and sending them both back a few inches. Her eyes scanned the area she was in again and again. She was in… her room. Suddenly she touched her side, trying to feel the blood that had once been there, but there was none.

"What happened to me? I thought I was going to bleed to death!" She said shaking.

"Malon relax," Zuku said comfortingly, "We cleaned it all up after you fainted." Malon looked shocked.

"I-I fainted? Now I remember. Everything kept getting bigger and bigger, and then it all went black." Maku and Zuku exchanged glances with each other and finally Zuku asked her, "Do you know what happened to you? How'd you manage to start bleeding?" Malon shook her head.

"To tell you the truth not even I know. All I remember was I woke up in the middle of the night from my nightmare. In it I was just falling and I kept being stabbed by people I knew and loved. And then I stopped falling and I was caught in the arms of Link. He said that he'd never hurt me again. Then straight after that he… he stabbed me and next thing I knew I was wake, gasping for air in the middle of the night. You pretty much know the rest."

Zuku looked perplexed. None of this made since. How had she started bleeding that had? There had to be some reasonable answer, but right now he could think of none. "Are you sure you didn't trip or fall or anything to cause the bleeding? Like when you were going down the stairs?" Maku asked. Malon shook her head as Zuku rolled his eyes.

"Even if she had fallen, Maku, she wouldn't have hurt herself badly enough to start bleeding like that. We would've heard it anyway." Maku just shrugged. Malon sighed tired of lying down and sat up in the bed, immediately noticing Maku and Zuku start to blush. She looked at them questioningly and followed their gaze downwards. She shrieked and quickly pulled up a blanket to cover her bare chest.

"Erm… sorry about that but it was the only way to get the bandages on." Maku explained sheepishly as he sweat-dropped. Malon blushed and desperate to change the subject asked, "How long have I been out?"

"Just a couple of hours." Zuku replied, observing the room absentmindedly. After a few moments of silence Zuku turned back to her, a serious expression falling over his face. "Malon I… I think I may know how this happened to you…" He paused for a moment, "Perhaps... it's Chronos and Zero that are doing this to you—"

"Zuku that's impossible," Maku interrupted, "If it were Chronos and Zero doing this we would have known by now!"

"I know that, Maku, just let me finish," Zuku snapped back at him, "As I was saying, I think it's possible that they could be doing this to you through your dreams. It may sound weird but it's just a theory. Chronos… I found out that he has gotten a new power that has something to do with dreams. Perhaps through them he is able to harm people and change the dreams around, so that if one person was supposed to have a pleasant dream he could make then have a frightening disturbing one. I think this may just be it, unless you can think or another possible answer." He paused, waiting for her response.

Malon looked up for a moment, trying to debate on whether or not this could be true or not. Doing this through her dreams? How? It just made no sense. But then again she did remember something. The Link from her dreams. She had looked into his eyes and there was something peculiar about them. They weren't blue. They were an odd whitish-silver color. No, more like gray…

"That's sounds reasonable enough for me, Zuku. It's still strange though, you know how they can do this through my dreams… If they could hurt me like that… doesn't that mean that they could possibly kill me like that too?" Malon asked.

Zuku shook his head and was quick to answer. "Don't worry; they wouldn't kill you if you could be of some important use to them. Most likely their trying to weaken you or warn you. Something along those lines. Either way, we're going to figure out a way to stop this, right Maku?"

"Uh, huh…" Maku said yawning. He then grabbed Zuku by the arm and began dragging him out of the room, "Well now that we've cleared up things here, it's off to bed with us. Come on Zuku. Just don't have anymore nightmares, Malon, and don't worry 'cause we'll be on full alert if anything happens." He said before exiting the room with Zuku in tow. Malon blinked twice then shrugged and lye down on her pillow to go to sleep. Hoping to have a peaceful one this time.

--

Link tiredly wiped her eyes as he woke up to the morning's first rays of light the next day. He had camped out on 'his' rock last night and now it was time to go to the ranch and finally greet, well apologize to Malon. He got up uneasily and spent a few moments looking at the ranch. He groaned. No he wouldn't go now. He knew how moody Malon was when she first woke up and most likely if he went now… He shivered, not wanting to think about it. His eyes wondered for a moment and his gaze suddenly fell on the direction of the Zakiri Forest. He cringed as he remembered Maku and Zuku, not wanting to go there at the moment. But it would probably be best if he went to check up on the two right now...

He quickly took out his ocarina, playing the Epona song, and reminding himself of Epona once more. He sighed. He truly was hopeless. As Epona came running by he swiftly mounted on her and rode off to the Zakiri forest.

--

Link looked around the Zakiri Forest feeling alone and utterly confused. Where were they? Maku and Zuku couldn't have run off to trouble could they? No, Zuku was way too smart to let Maku drag them into any dangers. He would've stayed here with Maku and kept him out of trouble. But if that was so then where were they?! Link groaned. "I feel like I'm their babysitter! Why can't those two just stay put for once?"

He looked around once more but he knew they weren't just going to pop out of nowhere… yet it was impossible to just vanish into thin air too, right? He sighed again then mounted Epona, whom was waiting patiently for him just beside the tent.

"Let's go girl. I think we'll go see Malon and then, if by the time we get back, Maku and Zuku aren't here we'll go look for them." Epona neighed as if to agree and slowly exited the clearing with Link on her back.

--

As soon as she felt the hot sun on her back Malon groaned and of bed, nearly falling back down as she felt the aching in her side. She scowled this time, got up and kicked the bed for no apparent reason, then started jumping up and down as the pain of her poor, abused toe started kicking in. Fate really wasn't being nice to her today. All ready she was feeling extremely moody. After recovering from her painful awakening, Malon got up putting on a blue shirt and white skirt then expertly putting her hair up into a messy bun. She walked downstairs and was greeted warmly by Maku and Zuku, but said nothing since her moodiness was obviously beginning to kick in. Just as she suspected she was followed closely by them.

"Wait, Malon! Aren't you going to eat breakfast? And where are you going?" Maku asked.

She turned around and glared at him. "I'm not hungry and I'm just going out to do my chores. Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to jump off a bridge or something." She then turned on her heels and proceeded in walking down to the stables.

"Jeez, what's eating her butt today?" Maku wondered aloud and was with a smack to his head, compliments of Zuku. He glared at Zuku who just rolled his eyes. "Well then what are we supposed to do Zuku? It's not like we can follow her every minute of her life you know." Zuku thought about this for a moment then shrugged.

"I dunno, we just wait here I suppose, although that does remind me of something…" Maku gave him a questioning look, "We did kind of just ditch Link you know. He might be worried about us or even mad…" Maku looked thoughtful; for a moment then his eyes got wide.

"That's right! Oh what do we do? He's going to kill us! Oh no, no, no, no, no!"

"Maku calm down. We simply explain to him our situation and he'll understand… maybe even help us." Zuku said coolly. Maku hesitantly agreed and both took the time they had to observe the ranch, well, the animals really. All the horses here seemed to be so happy and were strong and fast, yet none looked as gentle or smart as Epona. The cows were wise, old and calm, however all the cuckoos seemed to have a scary evilness about them. Maku just chose to stay away from them for the time being… After standing there in silence for a while Maku sighed, declaring that he was going back inside to get something to eat, when they both went on full alarm as they heard the sounds of a horse entering the ranch. Without a second thought they ran to the entrance and immediately turned back and ran to where they had been before, shrinking back behind two pots. They looked over the pots once more to gaze at the person that rode the horse. Link.

"What's he doing here? Maku whispered.

"I don't know! He probably wants to talk to Malon." Zuku whispered back.

"But if he spots us he'll want an explanation and might want to take us back!"

"Relax, we just tell him everything like it is if that happens. Like I said earlier if you were listening."

Okay but in that case why are we hiding behind these pots?"

"Um… well…"

Luckily for Zuku Maku had turned his attention away from his brother and was now looking at Link who was, apparently, looking for Malon. They watched as he rode past them, not once gazing in their direction and went on to where all the horses were running free. His eyes scanned the area for a while and he sighed when he didn't see her. Maku and Zuku took this chance to run off and hide behind two larger pots that they were sure he wouldn't see them behind. Link looked behind him for a moment and then shrugged it off as he steered Epona towards the tower (**A/N-** You know that big gray tower thing with the cows and hay. Sorry I really don't know what it's called -.-; ) He stared at it for a moment and was about to leave when the door flew open and he finally saw who he had been searching for all this time. Malon.

--

Malon and Link stared at each other for what seemed like the longest humanly stare, both too shocked to say anything and then,

SLAM!!

Immediately Malon shut the door in Link's face and leaned back up against it, eyes still wide in shock. Great. He had finally come back. What the hell was she supposed to do now? As she thought about this she suddenly began to hyperventilate, or something like that. She tried her hardest to calm herself by taking deep breaths, which was hard to do in the first place. Looking over her shoulder at the closed door she wondered why she was so suddenly acting this way. After all it was only Link… Besides she had wanted to see him… hadn't she?

From the other side she heard Link dismounting Epona and sighing as he leaned up against the door, as if he was expecting her to do just that… what was he doing here anyway? She had thought he had left her life forever… with her back leaned up against the door she slowly slid down to the floor and could feel some tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she thought about when he had left her. She shook her head to get away from the memory and yelled, "Go away! Leave me alone!" She knew she really didn't want him to leave but something in her head just told her that this was the right choice.

"Malon… could we just talk… please?"

"No." Malon replied suddenly feeling a wave of tears begin to develop in her eyes.

"Malon, come on. Will you at least listen to what I have to say?"

"No Link, save it. I don't want to hear a word from you… you've hurt me too many times before and I don't want it to happen again! Just leave."

"I'm not going anywhere. Will you please hear me out on this one? I think you'll want to hear what I have to say."

Slowly a tear drop rolled down Malon's face and she sniveled, "Link if what you have to say is an apology then I really don't care. I don't want to hear it." She couldn't believe she was saying this, or hearing this. Link really wanted to talk with her and yet she just kept on pushing him away. One side of her mind was screaming at her to stop this and the other side urged her to go on.

"Will you just give me one more chance Malon. I'm really sorry and I—"

"No and no! I said already that I don't want to hear it!" She interrupted him. She heard him sigh from the inside. Or was that a groan? _'No, please don't leave Link… please. Stop this now Malon! Don't go through with this! You're making the wrong choice!'_ There it was. The other side of her mind was practically begging her not to do this, but she couldn't listen to it. _'Good, just keep on doing what you're doing. He'll leave sooner or later. It'll all work out for the best, I promise.'_ And then there was the side she was listening to. "I just have to make him go. It'll work out for the best…" She whispered to herself.

"Please Malon, just give me a chance to at least tell you how I feel." Link said from the other side of the door. Link said from the other side of the door, clearly getting desperate and a bit irritated.

From the inside she shook her head even though Malon knew he couldn't see her. He just wasn't giving up. There was… one thing she could say that would make him leave but… no. No buts. She had to say it.

"Link, just go away. I'm through with you and I don't feel like talking. If you haven't gotten my point yet I'm saying that I… I hate you and I just want you to go away!" There was a long silence and Malon could feel her heart beating faster and faster. Was he going to leave or stay? She put her ear closer to the door, trying to listen to what he was doing. She soon heard him mounting Epona and slowly starting to ride off. He was… gone.

As the realization began to click in she suddenly wanted to open the door and run to him, begging him to come back. But through her shock all she could do was sit there. She gazed at the floor for a moment until she could feel a bunch of tears start to well up in her eyes. At first she tried to wipe them away but when she did they just came back in full force. Moments later she couldn't take it anymore. She collapsed on the floor and cried. It was all too clear to her now. She had made the wrong choice.

--

Once Maku and Zuku saw Link exiting the ranch with his head hanging down in sadness, both knew that something had gone terribly wrong. The atmosphere of the ranch had turned from soft and peaceful to gloomy and melancholy. As soon as they were sure Link wouldn't be able to see them they ran to the tower where Malon had been and burst through the doors only to find her on the floor crying miserably. Maku and Zuku just stood there too shocked to say anything. Eventually Zuku pulled up all the courage he had and was able to ask, "M-Malon? What happened?" She made no move tell him and just kept crying as if he wasn't even there. After a mild silence Maku walked over to her and touched her shoulder gently, to try and calm her a bit. He was quiet and the turned to Zuku with a serious expression on his face.

"Zuku I think she needs someone, fast. Why don't you go get Link and I'll stay here for the time being."

Zuku blinked at his brother's orders and stood there for a moment, "How do you know what she needs. It's supposed to be me giving the orders anyway."

Maku rolled his eyes. "Bossy, bossy. Look Zuku I know you may be the leader and all but I think I know how to handle this situation. Obviously when Link came here something bad happened to the both of them. I figure that if we can convince him to come back and explain what happened, and then if they talk to each other we can clear up the confusion or whatever's going on." Zuku frowned for a moment then sighed in defeat. He had to admit his brother's plan was pretty good, and Maku was actually acting smart for once. Maybe if he did this now and praised him for thinking up a good plan (if it worked that was) then in the future Maku would actually gain some intelligence and be good at this kind of stuff.

"I suppose you're right. I'll go get Link and you stay here with Malon. I don't think anything's going to happen but keep a watchful eye if something does. Try and calm Malon down for now and get her to tell you what happened." Maku nodded and Zuku left the two alone. Not suspecting in the least that anything would happen

--

"Hm? Has the time finally come?" Zero gazed down from the tall tree he sat in, watching as Zuku exited the ranch without Maku. Or Malon. "Ah, I believe it really has." He grinned. Although he had been counting on both boys to leave, Maku was the younger and weaker one. He'd have no trouble getting past him.

Finally he could go and claim his 'prize.' Now let's see. How would he like to make his entrance when he went to retrieve the girl? Sure it was a silly and probably useless thing to think about but since this would be really quick he'd like to make the most of it. A villain is allowed to have a little fun once in a while isn't he? Now let's see. A surprise attack would be nice. If he could them it would make it much easier to get past Maku and things would go much smoother. He smiled. Yes, a surprise attack was just what he needed.

"Prepare yourself Malon, as of today everything in your life changes."

--

Maku sighed. He had finally gotten Malon to stop crying but she wouldn't tell him anything. As a matter of fact she just sat there, staring at the wall with a far away look in his eyes. He sighed again, going over to her to try and get her to talk.

"Malon come on. You know, sometimes if you don't feel well and you talk to another person about what's getting you down then it can make things a lot better." That was something Zuku had told him one day. He honestly didn't believe a word of it but it was worth a shot, right?

"There's nothing to talk about. I don't… you wouldn't understand anyway." Well that was a start. At least he had got her to start talking.

"How do you know that? Besides if you talk with him maybe we can work things out for the better. Come on give it a shot." Malon looked to the ground and said quietly,

"You expect me to talk with him? After I just told him that I practically hate his guts?! He'd never forgive me or even care about anything I have to say. If Zuku does go out and find him he's not going to listen. He's never going to come back, ever. Would you expect the one you love to come back for you after you told them you hate them?!" Malon was yelling now. Maku remained quiet for a moment then a small smile managed to develop on his face, "So you're saying that you do love him?" Malon blushed and turned away.

"Wha-what? Where'd you get that idea?"

"Mm, oh I don't know maybe from when you said 'would you expect the one you love to come back after you told them that you hate them?'" Malon blushed furiously and looked to the ground, "Just get off my back okay." He nodded then turned serious again.

"So... care to explain why you wanted him to leave in the first place?"

"I don't know… It's just seemed like the only choice I had. My mind was just so confused and then... that voice…" She trailed off and Maku urged her to continue, "This one strange voice inside my head kept telling me to make him go. I just couldn't escape it. Even if I did resist it just kept coming back and telling me what to do. It felt as if I were being controlled or something."

"Controlled…" Maku mouthed then perked up a bit. He was silent for a moment and then walked to the door and put his ear to it. Without further warning he turned back to Malon and gazed into her azure eyes. "Someone's out there."

Malon shrugged. "Of course, it's probably just my dad or Ingo." Maku shook his head.

"No it's not. Wait here." She nodded and Maku exited the tower. How odd. He was certain he had felt the presence of either Chronos or Zero out her yet he saw… no one. _'He must be hiding.' _

"Come out you coward! I know you're here somewhere!" Silence. He looked around himself, still seeing nothing. Then it was clear to him. He backed far enough so he could see atop the tower. And sure enough there he was. Zero.

"Aw, shame on you Maku. You ruined my surprise." Zero quickly jumped down from the tower, landing in front of Maku and looking around for any sign of Malon

"What do you want Zero?" Maku said, trying to sound as brave as he could. Zero shot him a menacing glare.

"Are you really that naïve or are you just dumb? I've come to claim my prize of course. So where is she?"

"Do you really think I'd actually tell you? I think you're the one that's dumb around here."

Zero, completely ignoring that remark, looked over to the closed tower door and stared at it for a long time. "She's in there isn't she?" Without waiting for Maku's answer he walked over to the door and opened it. Sure enough there she was. He grinned widely, leaning up against the door-way as he stared at her.

"We meet at last."

Malon stared at this man. Who was he? He had long blonde hair, unnatural gray eyes, wore a dark yellow tunic covered by a brown cloak. Though she couldn't see it she knew there was a sword in the sheath that was almost completely hidden by his cloak. Somehow Malon felt as if she had met him somewhere. Then a name came to her almost immediately.

"You are… Zero…"

"Ah, then you're not as dumb as the one over there." He said pointing a finger over his shoulder at Maku. He stopped grinning now. "Come over here now girl." At first she just stared at him until again, the same voice that had controlled her earlier made her start to advance towards him.

"Stop it Malon!" She stopped abruptly at the sound of Maku's voice. Zero groaned and turned around. "And I thought you were just going to give up. I don't see why you have to interfere. I'm much stronger than you Maku. Without your brother there are few useful attacks you can do. Face it Maku, you're powerless." Maku growled at him through clenched teeth.

"Even if that may be so there's no way I'll let you take her, not without a fight anyway." Zero took a step towards him and crossed his arms. "That sound like a challenge to me."

"Then a challenge it is." Maku said ready to fight this jerk whether he wanted to or not. _'I have to do it for Malon. It's what Zuku would want… it's what I want. I don't want to fail my duty again…' _As soon as Maku's words were spoken Zero was off his feet and headed toward him faster then Maku could react. Zero's hard blow sent the young boy crashing into the dirt. Maku then got up on his feet and wiped the dirt from his face. As fast as he could he managed to conjure up a quick magic spell the Zuku had taught him and aimed it towards Zero. Unfortunately it missed, going off into the distance. Zero shook his head, looking after it, then ran back up to Maku and kicked him to the ground again. He kept his foot on the boy's back pressing harder and harder. He chuckled.

"Please, this is way too easy. I'm going to have fun killing you." Maku picked his head up from the dirt.

"We'll see if you get that far."

"Wimp." Zero then proceeded in crushing Maku into the ground. Maku clenched his teeth and fists, trying to withstand all of the pain that flowed throughout his body.

"Maku!" The pain on his back lessened shortly and he looked up to see a terrified looking Malon staring at him. Before he was crushed back into the earth he managed to spit out, "Malon… run… now…get away… quick!" Malon was almost in tears once again.

"No! I'm not going to leave you Maku!" Zero grinned.

"You'd best listen to him girl. When he's finished you're up next."

Malon looked up at Zero and glared. "You monster! Let him go! Do what you want with me but please just let him go!" Zero laughed at her.

"Don't you worry. I WILL do what I want with you but he's going to suffer here and now." Zero looked down at Maku to see he wasn't moving. With a final, and hard, stomp he took his foot off Maku and turned to Malon. "Your turn." He took one step towards her but was suddenly knocked to the ground when a sudden blast collided with his back. He scowled and looked over his shoulder to see Maku standing up. Maku quickly looked at Malon to make sure she was okay, and sighed a breath of relief when he saw that she was unharmed.

"I said to get out of here Malon! I'll hold him off as long as I can just run!

"But I—"

"Leave!" With a last glance at Maku Malon quickly took off, running as fast as she could. Zero got up and growled at him. "Fool! You should've just played dead. Now I'm really going to have to kill you and the girl won't be doing too well either."

"Heh, we'll see about that." They both ran towards each other and once again went into battle.

--

Malon's legs felt as if they would fall off any minute now. Despite the pain, though, she kept on running as if her life depended on it._ 'Maku… please be all right. I don't want to lose you…' _It was all she could think about. She really hadn't wanted to leave him behind, but she had heard the desperateness in his voice when he told her to go. If she had been there he would have been more concerned about her and not have been able to fight well. She would have only been in the way. She brought her hand up to her face and flicked away a tear beginning to fall from her eye. No, she wouldn't cry. She couldn't be such a wimp anymore. She'd have to be stronger from now on. She looked around and saw a large tree with a rock under it. Slowing down she walked there and sat on the rock. She was sure Zero wouldn't find her here. Putting her face in her hands she began to think about her current situation. What had she done? All of this, every single thing was her fault. If she had not made Link go away then Zuku wouldn't have had to gone looking for him, and she and Maku wouldn't have had to be alone, she wouldn't have had to run away and Maku wouldn't have had to fight Zero…

"My gosh, I'm such an idiot. I wish I could just die and solve everybody's problems. And mine. Link could go off with Zelda, Maku and Zuku could stop worrying about me and live a normal life, and Chronos and Zero could just give up. It's because of my very existence that all this is happening. If only I could do something to make this all stop…" She looked up at the sky for a moment and noticed that the clouds were growing dark. It was going to rain soon. She stood up and walked over to the tree, placing one hand on it and stroking it gently. Then, without further warning, a hand from behind suddenly grabbed her and pulled her close, covering her mouth with their hand. After a moment of shock and struggling, her captor finally threw her down and chuckled lightly. Malon slowly turned back around hoping this wasn't who she thought it was. As she looked into the eyes of the person she saw that they were gray. _'No… how could he find me here.'_

"Z-Zero…" He chuckled again.

"Don't sound so surprised. You should've known I was going to find you sooner or later." Malon hurriedly stood up and began to back away from him, looking around to see if there was anyone or anything to help her. There was nothing.

"You're not thinking about running are you? That would be a very unwise decision you know." Zero said, noticing her actions. Malon didn't answered. Turning her back on him she immediately began to run as fast as she could, trying to look for a safe place to hide where he wouldn't find her… wait a minute… maybe if she went to the Kokiri Forest where Link was probably at then he could… she instantly stopped and fell to her knees as she felt a sharp object suddenly dig into her back. She slowly managed to look behind her and saw a knife sticking out of her back. She gasped and tried getting back up, only to be kicked back down to the ground by a powerful force. She looked behind her once more and saw Zero glaring down on her with a highly annoyed look on his face. He then reached down and yanked the knife out of her back, causing her to yell out in pain. "Didn't I tell you not to run off. Wherever you go Malon, just know that I'll always be able to find you." She moaned in pain and got up on her hands and knees, ignoring the pain in her back. "I thought that you weren't going to kill me…" He shook his head. "I don't intend to kill you. Only to rough you up a bit." He then reached down and grabbed her hair pulling her up. She struggled to get free but he grabbed her arm and kept a tight grip on it. "Your struggling will do you no good. I suggest that you just accept your fate and give up."

Ignoring him Malon tried even harder to get away, but to no avail. There was nothing more that she could do… she would just have to go through with this. When he saw that she had finally given up Zero smiled and pushed her back down once more, sending her sprawling to the ground a few inches away from him. He then went over and began kicking her over and over, ignoring her constant screams. One he stopped for a moment, she tried getting back on her hands and knees but he kicked her back down. Stepping on her already bleeding wound. Once again she cried out in pain and collapsed back on the ground. He laughed bitterly and took his foot off her back, once again grabbing her by the hair and pulling her up. He then noticed that he had knocked her unconscious and smiled dropping her back down. Right now would be the opportune moment to take her away but… he hadn't seen the symbol yet. That could mean… no she was it he was sure of it. Perhaps he just had to try something new so he could be sure. Reaching down he quickly lifted her up by her neck and began chocking her. Now he could see it. Finally. He looked under her bangs at her forehead and there it was, glowing a deep purple color. The symbol he had been wanting to see all this time. He smirked, and slowly loosened his grip on her neck, staring at it for a moment. And then it happened.

Once he stopped staring at the symbol he noticed a strange red energy beginning to travel up and down her body. As it reached her neck it stopped and made a turn, flowing up and down his arm several times before stopping just at his hand. "What the hell…" He mumbled, obviously dumbfounded. The light now traveled back to her neck and started blinking rapidly. In an instant in went back to his hand and started blinking again. Suddenly he dropped her as he felt his hand becoming weak. Shocked he stared at his hand and noticed that it had… burn marks in it. Freshly made burn marks. He looked down at Malon then back at his hand. This was… so strange… what was happening. Oh well, whatever it was gone now. He could figure it out later. He reached down for her once more, but just as he touched her arm a strange shock began to travel throughout his body. He flinched and looked at his arm. His arm was… bleeding. There were even more burn marks in his arm and it… hurt. He looked at Malon once more. He did not know what was happening but at the moment there was one thing that was clear to him. He could not touch this girl.

While clinging to his arm to try and stop the pain, Zero began to slowly back away. This was so… so strange. For the first time in his life he felt pain. He had never experienced anything like it. And now here it was suddenly all dumped on him. He hated it. It made him feel weak and vulnerable. Strange enough it was all caused by this girl. This weak little human. He wanted to do something about it. Was so mad he could've killed her right then and there. But he had to get away from her. Now. It was the only way to stop the pain. He was sure of it. And there was also nothing else he could really do now… he couldn't touch her even… He glared at her unconscious body. Once the resurrection ceremony was over she was going to pay dearly for this. She would pay with her life. He turned and began to walk away. Only looking back once before he flew off.

Malon's unconscious body just lye there in the grass. The wound in her stomach had opened up once more and allowed blood to freely pour from her stomach. What had she done? What had she done to deserve such a horrible fate? Her body lye here unmoving. Unknown to the world. All she knew, all she could think about was that she was going to die. Yes, that was it. No matter how much Link, Maku, Zuku, Chronos or Zero wanted here alive, they had no choice. Right now, in this place, she was going to die.

--

Chel: =dies from writing that long a chapter=

Garnet: Nope, you can't die now. You have to continue writing

Chel: =Is revived by Garnet= Aw! You revived me! That must mean you do love me :D

Garnet: =sweat-drop= No, you just have to do the author's notes, and reviewer comments, baka. Then you can die.

Chel: Humph. Meanie. Ahem, anyway I'd like to apologize for the length of this chapter. I hope it was worth your time. I know I didn't like it but still maybe you do. Hehe, did you guys like my ever so dark ending? Poor, poor Malon what shall happen to her? Do I know? Yes I do, and I'm not telling! Hahahahaha! xD Woo, now that that's outta the way I'd like to announce that I may, or may not, get a chapter up in late Aug./ early Sept. it depends 'cause you know what's starting again for me? School. Bun, bun, bun. Bleh, oh well. Um what else to say… ah, well say hello to my three new muses. Felix, Picard, and Alex

Felix: …

Picard: Tee hee

Alex: =cackles evilly= I control your mind! Hehehehe

Chel: =sweat-drop= Uh huh…

Garnet: Stop babbling on and get to the comments you baka

Chel: -,-' Jeez.. Fine miss bossy

**DougS**- Aw, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks a lot! Your review was one of the many that kept me going on. I'm glad you like it, hope you liked this chapter as well! Thx again for the review! :D

**Flaming red dragon**- Hehe, glad you like it! Don't expect many fast updates with me though. I'm one of those sloooow people that take forever to update stories. Heh, well thanks for the review! :)

**Starlighter S-14**- Tee hee, glad you like the whole thing with "the one" I was going to make there be a certain name for it but I became brain dead (which really isn't unusual…) and just decided to do that. Any-hoo thanks for the review! :)

**Anna-Elena: Starlight Chaos**- Ha! You may want to make your chapters longer but I want to make mine shorter 'cause after a while I feel like I'll die from all the typing xD Well anyway thanks again for the review!

**JoJo10**- Aw thanks :) I always love reading your reviews 'cause they always make me smile. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! Thanks for the review!

**musicstar918**- I bet everyone grows impatient with how long I keep them waiting for an update :P Thanks for the review!

**RayJay88**- Aw, sorry this isn't your favorite pairing but thanks for the review anyway. But hey, hey I think you might like the next story I'm going to post up (if I can…) because it's a Zelink. Thanks again for the review!

**Cherry6124**- Thx so much! I'm so glad you find my story interesting. However your stories definitely kick mine's ass xD Thanks again for the review!

Chel: Woo, and there ya go! Next chapter: Is Malon really gone? What happened to Maku? Will Link and Zuku ever find Malon? Well you'll find out in the next chappie, so I guess this means bye for now! Ja ne!

Alex: Great now you're speaking Spanish

Felix: You mean Japanese you baka

Alex: Right, French

Felix: O.o

Picard: Review and I, err, you get cookies :D

_--__Chelsea--_


	8. Choosing Life or Death

::shakes head:: My, my, A few days ago I reread this story word for word and thought "What the hell was I on when I wrote this?" I appreciate the fact that many people have been enjoying this but there were a few things I saw that I just couldn't stand. First off, I'm going to be frank when I say that I made Malon a complete and total wimp. That is not the way I intended her to be. It really made me mad to see that I made her cry at practically her every waking minute, and I turned her into a helpless little damsel in distress waiting for her hero to rescue her. From this chapter on I'm going to try and change her. Don't worry though, it'll fit in with the story and I won't change her completely and totally.

The second thing that made me angry was the fact that I think I'm turning Maku and Zuku into Mary Sues (or would that be Gary Stus?) That is something that I really do not want to happen so I'm going to try hard to reform them a little bit too. I hope that by changing these two things it'll make the story a lot better than it is right now. Oh and by the way be prepared for some plot twists after chapters 8 & 9 ;) I honestly don't know how you people put up with me.

Going on to other business I'd like to apologize for making people wait so long for this chapter. My excuse? School. I joined a few sports and I'm working hard to keep my grades up. My other excuse? I got a puppy! Everyone knows how much work that is right? But enough about my personal life. The bottom line is I'm very sorry this took so long to update, and I do plan on continue this till the bloody end, so you don't have to worry about a thing. Read on now.

Disclaimer- I, sadly, do not own Zelda, only enjoy writing fanfiction about it!

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**Chapter Eight: Choosing Life or Death**

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In fairytales, and fairytales only, people live the lives they love. They can all be happy with the way things are because it's perfect. Every single thing in their world is perfect. No one is bad or mean or rude, and the people are always kind and sweet. But the same cannot be said for reality. The fact is realities and fairytales have nothing in common. Fairytales are perfect. Realities aren't. That's the main difference between the two. Usually people can realize that right away, but sometimes it takes everything to make them understand.

----

There was a loud noise sounding across the bridge separating Hyrule and the Kokiri Forest, accompanying it the sound of someone heavily breathing. He stopped for a second, the boy running across the bridge, and brushed his black hair away from his sweaty neck and face. He still couldn't fully understand why he needed to come all the way back here just to retrieve Link, but he didn't want to question his brother's ideas. He knew that Maku only meant for the best, and that he believed this would be the right thing to do. Zuku sighed as he entered the Kokiri Forest.

Bustling in delight with a strange kind of energy this forest was. He quickly ignored everything going on around him and ran to Link's house, hoping to find him in there. He scanned the area. There was a small table, a bed, a few pots here and there and a couple of arrows and a shield. However, Link was no where in sight. He sighed and exited the house, disappointed… what now?

"Hey, you! Do you need something?" Zuku perked up at the squeaky voice he heard and looked down the ladder. Sure enough he saw a young, curious looking Kokiri boy looking back up at him. The boy cocked his head to the side, waiting for Zuku's answer. Zuku calmly came down the ladder to talk to him.

"Well, I'm looking for a man by the name of Link. Do you know where he is?" The boy rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking. Zuku, sighed already beginning to feel impatient and was about to tell the boy never mind when he spoke up.

"I think I remember seeing Link go over there," he pointed, "in the Lost Woods. Good luck finding him." The boy then ran off without further explanation, leaving Zuku slightly confused. He sighed for about the millionth time that day and slowly trudged on to the woods.

----

The woods were confusing and the mountainous trees that loomed high above didn't help at all. Zuku struggled to keep up and remember each direction he turned and very single inch of land he covered. He had suspected that these woods would be hard to navigate in and that he might get lost once or twice, but at the moment he had no idea where he was and this was not a good thing on his part. He had planned to come here get Link and go back to the ranch. He didn't want to stay too long, but he had no other choice.

There seemed to be a soft melody that played in the background of the woods, but he really and truly didn't know and couldn't tell. There was a strange mist lingering in the air and it somehow seemed to be calling to him. He didn't know why but it was as if it was bribing him forth in a certain direction…

A shadow.

He stopped suddenly and felt his muscles begin to tense up slightly. There was something watching him. Lurking in the shadows… something or someone strong. He had just seen it. Then again. He spotted it again, out of the corner of his eye and turned to face it, but it was gone. He began to back away slowly, preparing to go look for Link somewhere else.

Then he hit something. He froze up.

There was something standing right behind him. It was so close he could hear its breath on his neck, lightly tickling the hairs. He swallowed and prepared to fight. The he stopped. It had grabbed him. His neck, and was turning him around. He closed his eyes, then opened them and was surprised to see a person standing behind him. A person he knew. Link.

He relaxed immediately and was dropped quickly to the ground by Link. Once he looked back up, he saw Link looking awkwardly down at him.

"Zuku… why are you here?"

Zuku took a deep breath. "Link I… I have something to tell you…"

----

There was darkness. And yet, there seemed to be a small corner shrouded in light. She had to know what was there. She _had_ to. But it felt as if something was preventing her to do so… like there was a strange force that kept her from discovering what it was. She was sure of it.

She tried to speak, but she had no voice. It was an eerie feeling; no sound would come out of her mouth no matter how hard she tried. _'What's going on? I don't remember ever coming here…' _Slowly, she shrank down to her knees and looked at herself. She was dressed in white from head to toe. Her hair had turned from its naturally fiery red color to a dark auburn color, making it look dirty and tousled. Even the liveliness of her bright blue eyes and the cherry red of her lips seemed to be faded away. She didn't even recognize herself. She looked so different.

She looked back up quickly, hoping to escape her frightening appearance, and it was then that she noticed a different bright light in front of her. She stared at it for a moment, then cautiously crawled towards it and as she reached it, found herself entering a whole new room as the one she had just been in began to close up. When she got in it she was nearly blinded by light. Gradually regaining her vision, she was awestruck as she saw how beautiful this room was. Floating around in random places were different colored orbs, some golden, and others black. The color in the room was not permanent as whenever you closed your eyes and opened them the room would turn to another color, like green or yellow. This room was so odd… she longed to know more about it. Suddenly a strong voice pierced through her thoughts.

"Stand up." She blinked twice and stood up as the voice had ordered. Looking behind her to find the person who had said that, she was surprised to see how odd he looked. He was a middle-aged man with white hair, a stern face and knowing green eyes. He wore white and black robes that hid every part of his body beside his head and face. She began to tremble. This man… just looking at him frightened her.

"Your name is Malon, daughter of the owners of Lon Lon Ranch, correct?"

She was confused suddenly. Malon? That was… her name? Yes… it was coming back to her now. She was Malon; her father was Talon and her mother was Kakau… But how did this man know? If he knew this about her then… did he know more? She had to know, but there was no way she could ask him this. She still could not speak. Reluctantly she nodded her head in response to his question. He nodded back at her.

"Kakau will be with you in a short while. Stay here." He turned and walked on, almost as if he had walked straight out of a door. Malon stared after him with a blank look on her face. Where could he be going? And why… why had he said that he was going to get her mom?

She got up to try and get away, when a sharp pain on her neck suddenly caught her at full surprise. She rubbed the area that had been hurt but there was nothing there, only some sweet smelling powder. She looked at her fingers covered with the purple solution for a while until she could soon smell the whole room filling with its aroma. She unexpectantly dropped to her knees, feeling slightly limp, and then felt her eyes slowly dropping. Before she closed her eyes completely, she saw a bright light. It was the last thing she remembered before she fainted.

**O.o.O**

"Malon… please wake up…"

That voice… so familiar…

"Malon, I beg of you… please wake up…"

Someone was calling her name…

"Open your eyes."

But who was it?

She shifted in her sleep, turning towards the direction of the voice that she had heard.

"Malon, please open your eyes."

She didn't open her eyes. Soon she heard more voices.

"Ioris… what did you do to her? She's not waking up. Is she all right?" A brief pause.

"She's all right, just probably a little exhausted from the fumes. I suppose she'll wake up in due time."

"I hope you're right." Another pause. "She sure is lovely… what a beautiful young girl—no… woman-- she's become." There was light hand placed on her face. She shivered and it moved to her hair which it ran its slender fingers through. Someone was touching her, and whoever it was their touch was so… comforting and familiar. She shifted again and the people spoke once more.

"Ioris I believe she's waking up. You are free to leave now."

"Yes. Good bye and good luck."

"Thank you."

Just as the woman had suspected Malon began to stir in her sleep and soon enough her eyes started to flicker open. Once she sat up Malon was pull pulled into a tight embrace by the lady. She felt too weak to fight back and so she didn't but instead began to stare at the auburn colored hair the person embracing her had. She stared at it long and hard, trying to find out why it looked, and smelled, so familiar. She came up with no conclusion though.

Finally the woman pulled back and stared at Malon. Blue eyes stared into blue eyes, one pair of eyes blurred slightly with tears and the others taken over by confusion.

A long silence passed and Malon stared at the woman. Who did she think she was that she could just come and embrace her like that? And why was she crying. She shifted her eyes away from the stranger, beginning to feel uncomfortable looking into the eyes of a person she didn't even know.

"…_Who _are you?" Malon asked uneasily.

Immediately she saw shock appear on the woman's face, and began to wonder if she had said anything wrong.

"I'm sorry," Malon began, apologizing, "But I just don't seem to remember a thing. You look familiar, like I should know you, but… I just don't." The woman looked down silently, now with a slightly hurt expression on her face.

"Malon," all was silent as she spoke, "I am… your mother. I am… Kakau." Malon gapped in disbelief. Memories of her mother instantly began to come to her. Her mother… this person who claimed to be her did have a shocking resemblance to Kakau. However, she soon realized that none of this could be true. Her mother had died a long time ago.

"I-I don't believe it. My mother has been gone for far too long, how do you expect me to believe any of this? It makes no sense. Who are you really?" Again she saw a look of hurt appear on 'Kakau's' face.

"Have I really been away that long, Malon, that you do not remember the look of my face? Tell me, if I am not your mother than who else would I be? How else would I know so much about you?" Malon hesitated. She could not think of an answer to this woman's question of who else could she be, but still it could not be true. This lady probably didn't even know a thing about her.

"What _do _you know about me?" Malon questioned, testing her.

She sighed and looked Malon straight in the eyes. Malon noticed that her eyes were tired and worn out, there was almost not life left in them. Another sign that this could not be Kakau. If she remembered correctly her mother's eyes had always been cheerful and full of energy. She just couldn't be her.

"Malon, even if I did prove to you that I am who I claim to be would you believe me? You would just bring up yet another reason as to why I couldn't possibly be your mother. So really, there is no point in bringing up all the knowledge of you that I know of. If you do not believe me when I say I am your mother in your heart, than there is nothing else that I can offer to make you believe it. All I ask is that you trust me Malon."

Malon stared at this woman for a while. She seemed so honest and truthful… but how did she know that this really was Kakau. She closed her eyes and thought back to moments she shared with her mother, grasping for the details, but only getting small pictures to come up in her head. She remembered… a sunset… a horse… and then… sweet smelling auburn hair… a funeral. She looked back up at the woman and realized it.

This lady was Kakau.

Malon felt almost every muscle in her body begin to tense up. Her voice refused to let her speak and her jaw opened on its own, hanging there without her control. Her mother was sitting right in front of her. She couldn't believe it. What _was_ this place? What was going on here?

"You-you _are_ my mom…" she managed to croak out, "but how?" Kakau pulled Malon into an embrace once again and slowly began to explain.

"Malon, you may be wondering where you are at the moment, and the truth is not even I really know. Many call it the Land of the Undead, but really it is a land where people's souls go when they are dead and yet not dead. Basically you have died before you were suppose to and so your soul came here." Malon nodded weakly in understanding. "Anyway," Kakau continued, "I'm sure when you came here you met a man, correct? His name is Ioris and he is the ruler of this land. He called me here to see you… No, I was not surprised to see you here, for I figured that you would be coming eventually… but before I say anything more I suppose I should restore your memory to you so that you understand."

"My memory?" Malon inquired, breaking apart from her mother. Kakau nodded and stood up, extending a hand to help Malon up also. She then led her to the center of the strange room, and motioned her hand upwards so that she was staring at the many orbs that floated in the sky.

"That is your memory Malon. Right now I am sure that you do not remember who Link, Chronos or Zero are, correct?" Malon gave her a strange look.

"Not really… am I supposed to or something?" Kakau only smiled.

"Now, close your eyes and clear your mind okay?" Malon didn't look too sure.

"What will happen?" Kakau shook her head.

"Just be prepared to feel a small shock. Now close your eyes." Malon nodded hesitantly and closed her eyes.

A strange aura of energy soon began to take place around her. Then… tiny objects flowing into her body. She felt a sharp pain in one side of her and a calming air around the other side. This was… this was almost too much to take. She began to feel faint as sudden memories came to her. One night… two strange boys… Maku and Zuku? Then a kiss… Link? And finally… blood, death… Chronos and Zero. At the last memory that came back it was almost too much for her mind to take in. She was falling. Back… back… back, and then someone caught her. A soft touch. Her mother.

After falling into her mother's arms she could feel a cold sweat beginning to form on her. Those memories… all of those horrible memories… why? Why did her mother have to give them back to her? Did she even know how _horrible_ those memories were? She pulled herself up from her mother's chest and quickly spun around to face her.

"Why did you do that?!" she screamed, "You knew how much I despised all of those memories didn't you? So why did you bring them back to me. Why?" Her mother just stared at her for as moment and then sighed.

"I did it for your own good Malon. You have to understand that—"

"Understand what? You knew about all of it didn't you? You knew about everything that was going on! You knew how much I hated it there! Why did you give me all those memories back? Why?" Her mother glared at her once she finished.

"I gave them back to you for your own good Malon. You wouldn't understand now, but I assure you that once I finish talking to you, you will." Her mother stood up. "Come now. No questions, there is something I need to show you." She stood up and began to walk away. Malon followed her, curious about her mother's words. Curious about where they were going next.

----

The field of Hyrule remained wet, and the fog in the distance was not helping in the least for the two to get to their destination. They had set out for what seemed to be the ranch, being swallowed up more and more by the deep mist that refused to leave them alone.

It was no joke that sooner or later all of them—him, Link, Malon, and Maku—were going to have to meet Chronos and Zero face to face, Zuku thought. If not than they would have to stay in hiding until death. Chronos and Zero would not give up. All of them would have to work together to defeat the villains. They'd surely need time to figure out a strategy, though, since it was obvious they couldn't just go find the two without having a clue to what they were going to do. _'Link is strong though… he can defeat Chronos and Zero.' _He thought. But was it true? Sure Link was strong, but to try and beat both Chronos _and_ Zero seemed nearly impossible.

"Do you think she's all right?" Link's question interrupted the boy's train of thought and he glanced sideways for a moment to meet the man's gaze.

"… Yes, I'm sure she is. Maku's… well can be responsible. So there's not a doubt in my mind that she hasn't been harmed."

Link nodded, not feeling too reassured though, what with all Zuku had told him about Chronos and Zero. However, Link was glad that he understood it all now. Malon, he understood almost everything she had spoken to him and why she had acted the way that she did. She just didn't want him to find out about all of this. He was glad he knew now. Even though the words she had spoken to him truly did hurt… _'Fog out here sure is getting thick.'_ Link looked around himself, and indeed, the fog had become much thicker, he could only vaguely see Zuku as he traveled on with Epona, but said nothing and continued.

The winds began to pick up around the boys, making the trees around them sway this way and that. The clouds in the sky began to darken considerably, casting a dark glow on things below.

"The weather's turning foul. We'd better hurry." Zuku said. Link nodded in return, though he could barely hear the boy. Indeed the weather was beginning to get worse and worse. The fog was becoming thicker, the sky darker. Now, they felt rain drops beginning to fall from the sky and so they hurried along, even more anxious to get to the ranch.

"I… think... almost… near…" Link was very aware that Zuku was talking, but he could only make out a few words, what Zuku was really trying to say was almost impossible to understand.

"Zuku what are you talking about? I can't understand you." Zuku repeated the words he had said before, but still Link barely heard a thing. Deciding that it was probably no big deal he shrugged it off and followed Zuku farther.

Even as they continued on Link seemed to notice that things were become even windier. It was then that he began to wonder if he was even going the right way. The small figure that he thought he had been Zuku was slowly disappearing from his eyesight. He could only vaguely see it in front of him, fading.

"Zuku," he called out, "where are you?" He got no answer but only heard the wind whispering loudly into his ears. "Zuku…" he said again, this time quieter. He sighed when no answer was heard. The fog had become so thick, he'd lost track of him. He lightly scratched Epona behind the ears. "I have no clue where we are at the moment; I'm depending on you now. Lead us to the ranch." The rain began to pour as they went cautiously out, seeking the ranch.

----

Where was he? Zuku looked around himself for about the hundredth time. He knew for a fact that he had lost Link while making his way to the ranch, and it was tempting to go back out to look for him, but first he would look for Malon and Maku to make sure things were all right here. He went through the gates to the ranch to see what he would find.

The ranch was extremely quiet. He heard no horses, birds, or even the sounds of Ingo and Talon working. He began to wonder what was wrong, getting an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach. He walked on more towards the corral with silent, careful steps, not wanting to awaken anything that might have been lurking in the shadows.

It was raining still, but harder, making the grass more slippery. The light fog over it wasn't too bad although his vision wasn't too well at the moment. At one point he had thought he saw a drop of red in the soil. He had ignored it though not really wanting to know what it was and saying that it was all his imagination.

_'I left Malon and Maku in the tower. I should go there now.'_ He quickened his pace, and looked up seeing the distant blur of the large tower. It was then that he saw it. The red marks that highlighted the grass and soil. He stooped down for a moment and picked it up, running it through his fingers and examining it. What could it be? He could think of only a few things, but none of them seemed very likely.

Then he realized it. What it could really be. Blood.

His eyes widened in slight shock at this thought. What if it… how could… he continued on towards the tower, now running. Then he tripped. He fell hard on his face and winced in pain. Slowly getting up on his hands and knees he began to wonder what it was that he tripped on. He looked behind him, trying to make out the strange form on the ground.

And he saw it. It was Maku.

His eyes widened greatly, but he quickly shrugged off the realization that had just come to his mind. This wasn't Maku; it was simply his mind playing tricks on him. This rain combined with this fog, after all, was a good way to get someone confused. He closed his eyes for a few seconds the opened them, expecting to see the "thing" gone. But…

It was still there.

He suddenly felt panic begin to rise up inside of him. It was real, it was all real… He took his hand and slowly ran it over Maku's face. It was so cold and lifeless, covered in blood everywhere. He took a deep breath and quietly spoke his name.

"Maku…" he said almost inaudibly. "Maku… please tell me you're only sleeping… you've… you've got to wake up…" He could already feel tears beginning to well up in his eyes; he quickly wiped them away and put his ear to Maku's heart. It was still beating, but slowly… too slowly. He sighed deeply and stood up, taking Maku in his arms.

"Don't worry Maku… I'm going to save you… somehow…"

----

"Mom… what is this place?" Malon backed away, walking closer to her mother in disgust at the room they had entered. In every corner there seemed to be some kind of cobwebs with monstrous looking bugs on them, there were puddles of a red liquid, which she suspected was blood, thrown around in random places, and a dark mist seemed to be clouding around them, completely freaking her out. But the worst thing in here, the most horrid thing that managed to disturb her so much, was the smell. It was the smell of death, and she just couldn't stand it.

"Why are we here and what is this place?" She questioned again. Kakau sighed and took Malon's hand to sit her down. Malon flinched when she saw that they were sitting very close to a puddle of blood, but sat down where her mother wanted her to be nonetheless. She stared at her mother, as the woman seemed to be calm about whatever matter it was that she needed to discuss with Malon. There was a long silence between them, in which Malon could feel the darkness begin to wrap around her almost completely, and the acrid smell begin to get stronger. She felt a cold sweat begin to come back to her again until her mother spoke up.

"Malon, there is something important I need to discuss with you," Once she spoke Malon could feel all of her senses begin to come back to her and everything return to normal, "I don't want you to be surprised about a lot of this, and I'm quite sure you won't be since you, most likely, know a lot about it already. I'll start by saying that I know of every single thing going on with you and Chronos and Zero, and I do realize that they are after you; sadly I cannot help you with any of this as much as I want to. I think it would also be beneficial for me to let you know how it was that I really passed away…" Malon looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean mom? You passed away from a sudden illness, and the only reason none of us had seen you or heard about it for a while was because you had run away so that you wouldn't spread around the disease. You had been gone for three months before they found your body…" Kakau smiled sadly shaking her head in a thoughtful state.

"So that's what everyone believes is it? If only they truly knew how off they were on that…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Malon's mother started again with slight edge to her voice, "That the real way I died has nothing to do with having a disease or running away. Yes, I disappeared, but that was only because _they_ took me…"

"Who are they?" Malon asked, not sure she really wanted to know the answer.

Her mother looked at her for a moment then shook her head. "Chronos and Zero, that's who they are." At first Malon was shocked, then that shock turned to disbelief, and then to disappointment. Her mother, one of her greatest heroes of all, being taken away by those two villains?

"I… I… how did you get captured? It seems so unreal."

Her mother smiled kindly, bowing her head down to tell her daughter what happened. "When you were about six, I had begun to have many strange dreams coming to me out of nowhere. Most of them consisted of two figures, both glowing brightly, one was indigo and the other was gold. They each had piercing gray eyes, and I was truly frightened of them. The dreams kept happening almost every night until one night when I was out late delivering milk I was confronted by two strange boys, Maku and Zuku. That's all I remember from that point on. I believe I had then woken up and was in a strange place in the forest. They were both there it was then that I learned about my highly unbelievable past, that I was from an ancient clan that killed off another and two very dangerous assassins were after me. Of course I hadn't believed them at first, but my proof finally came when Chronos and Zero appeared in front of me for the very first time. They tried their hardest to capture me, but Maku and Zuku let out a sudden bright burst of energy and I was transported back to the ranch in an instant. I had no choice but to believe them after that. They told me almost everything else I needed to know and that's why I… that's why I left. I was afraid of putting you and your father in any sort of danger."

Malon was looking down, thinking. She suddenly remembered it all. Her mother had told her father a few weeks before she disappeared that she was having some sort of strange dreams. She had also told him she hadn't been feeling well which was why they had all assumed, as soon as she disappeared, that she had caught some sort of disease… but… they were wrong. This was the truth of it all; this was exactly how everything had happened.

"Malon I… I'm sorry…" Kakau began, but was cut off quickly.

"Then how did it happen? How exactly did you die?"

She frowned. "I was getting to that. While I was in hiding with Maku and Zuku, strange things began to happen. I went to sleep and when I awoke there were all kinds of cuts and bruises on me, I knew not of what was happening for all my dreams were peaceful. Zuku had been saying that we needed to travel instead of staying in one place. The day after he had said that we were going away, to a land not even I knew of. But as soon as we began to set out they came. They caught us by surprise, and there was nothing we could do to prevent them from coming. It was then that they captured me, and shortly after that I was used as their sacrifice." She sighed deeply and started up again. "Malon I truly am sorry about this, if there was one thing I could change then I—"

"Where is it? Where is the way out of here?"

Her mother looked at her strangely. "Malon what are you talking about?"

"You said that I'm not really dead and that I died before I was supposed to. That means that I can go back, correct?"

Her mother nodded. "Of course, you are allowed to go back whenever you please. But I must warn you. It may be wise to think this over some more. Are you positive that this is the correct action to take? Do you know what the consequences will be if you do this?" Malon abruptly turned silent. What was she doing? Her mother had an excellent point. What would happen to her if she made the wrong choice? Was this even the right thing to do? So many questions. So many of them left unanswered…

She thought more on the topic. If she went back, Chronos and Zero would be after her… but if she stayed here there would be no possible humanly way that they'd be able to get to her… she would also have no problems to worry about here and… she'd be able to stay with her mother. She absolutely loved her mother… she couldn't give up a chance to stay with her… could she?

She frowned. On the other hand if she went back she _would_ be able to solve all her problems. She had never been known to give things up. If she stayed here that would make her weak. She wanted to be everything but. And if she stayed here she would be able to forget everything.

Everything… it clicked.

She would forget all the pain and suffering, all the things and people that made her life miserable. She could forget about the way it felt when you fell off of a horse, the way it felt when people assumed that you had so little money just because you lived at a ranch. The way it felt having to wake up every morning to do chores, and the way it felt having to withstand all the rumors people had spread about you and your family…

Everything… there was nothing more she could ever ask for.

"Mother… I think… I think I've made my decision…"

**To Be Continued…**

And I guess that concludes Chapter 8! I am so sorry it took me so long to update! I know I've said that about a million times but I do really mean it. It's just that… ah enough of my excuses. Any-hoo I guess I'll do a quick preview for the next chapter.

Chapter Nine: People have the right to make their own decisions, whether good or bad. And those decisions lead to other things, many that they can't control. Malon must learn to live with her decisions and live with the consequences that come after wards…

Eh, that was a pretty bad preview, but hey, it'll keep you guessing I suppose :D Ah, well here's something just for my amusement. I'm doing a poll on how many think Maku will live and how many think he will die. Now let's just see how many actually care enough to take this --' VOTE PEOPLE!

Okay, let's get to the review responses already. Here we go!

**JoJo10- **Thank you so much! I'm sure everyone's pretty pissed at Zero for hurting Malon like that, but don't worry, there will be some 'ass-kicking' later in the story!

**KrystalFox- **Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad somebody actually likes this. And believe me, I think we all think that Link would look good with us :)

**danielle- **Don't worry, I assure you things will get better for our two heroes. After all, this is a Malink story and we haven't even gotten to the best fluffy parts yet! Thanks for reviewing!

**gamesrcool- **Thank you so much for the review! You're so nice, I'm glad this is one of the best stories you ever read, I feel warm and fuzzy inside now. I'm sorry I had to torture you by making you wait though!

Geez, only four review this time? I must be pretty bad --'

Confused? Love it? Hate it? Wanna make a suggestion? Let me know people! REVIEW!

_::chel bel::_


	9. Understanding and Manipulation

Yes, yes, I know I took forever to update and I know I said it would be done by the end of February but hey… at least I even got it up. And who cares right? End of February, beginning of April same difference :-P

So I don't have too much to say. Garnet, disclaimer please.

Garnet: Rightio boss. Chel bel does not own any of the Zelda characters, however she does own Maku, Zuku, Chronos, Zero, etc, etc.

Okay we will now begin :)

**Chapter Nine: Understanding and Manipulation**

Sometimes, through all the horrible things going on and all the bad misfortune, there can be a light that shines through and gives people a sense of hope. For nobody is perfect and nothing can ever be going well all the time. But if people get fortunate enough, then sometimes all bad can turn around to good and sometimes they can see the light shining through, getting ready to guide them. But that doesn't happen very often. In fact it hardly _ever_ happens at all.

* * *

He had seen red hair. And he knew that that could not be a good thing. 

Before he knew it he was racing towards the red haired person lying on the ground, anxious to see if his prediction of who it could be was correct. He could feel his heart pounding inside his chest and the sound of Epona's constant breaths as she tried to go as fast as her master wished for her to go.

As he arrived there he felt everything freeze.

Like time had suddenly just stopped, long enough for him to realize everything going on and everything that was so suddenly happening.

As this happened he saw how strange it was, and how strange things were probably going to be form now on. It had all just come to him at that moment, and tackled him right out of the blue, like he had suddenly been hit in the head with a club of some kind. When he realized how uncanny things were probably going to be from now on, he felt as if he really didn't want to go on. As if maybe none of this was worth it, and perhaps it would be better to just let others solve their problems on their own.

And then like that he was zapped back into the real world again, and time had unfrozen. And although he had his doubt, he followed through with what he was going to do before. He rode up to the red haired person, and got off his horse to kneel beside her. He was not at all shocked as who this was, for he knew, and had known, that this was going to happen. Just the fact that it was all happening now was what troubled him. It was happening so fast… too fast. He could feel every muscle in his body tensing up, but he was forcing himself to stay calm. For the girl's sake.

He gently felt her neck and arms, searching, hoping for a pulse. For seconds, that turned to minutes, that he thought had turned to hours he remained searching. Even so he could still hear everything around himself. He could hear the horse's whines, begging him to make sure she was okay. And he could hear the calm rain quietly crying, and the harsh winds laughing at him, nearly driving him mad. He couldn't take it. Carefully he picked up her body and carried her to the horse. Climbing on after he put her on. Pressing his body to hers to ensure that she got all the warmth she needed. With sweat pouring down his body, the wind laughing at him, the rain crying and his horse begging him, he rode off. Rode off to find the ranch. Rode off to save the girl's life.

* * *

It was too late and he was dead. He was dead and it was too late. There was no better way to put it, and he just couldn't understand why. Why this had happened. All he could think to do was cry. Cry for his brother's lost life. Curse the name of the person who had taken the life away. 

Zuku did not know what he was to do now. He and his brother Maku, his beloved brother Maku, were destined to work to together, to protect the one. But now it was only him, and he didn't know how much more of this he could take. It was already clear that he had failed. Things were not going as planned and he now doubted that anything would work out. Chronos and Zero were winning. No… they had already won.

There was a sound suddenly. But he didn't care. There was nothing tot worry about anymore. Why should he care? Who cared if anything happened, weren't things already as bad as they could get? He wiped away a tear slowly and just stared at the door.

He could sense that there was someone out there… waiting for him, and he knew that it probably wasn't a very welcome visitor either. As a matter of fact he knew exactly who it was out there. There was a knock on the door and silence filled the still room. Zuku didn't move and inch. The door opened and then there he was, Chronos.

They stared at each other. A tension building up between them. Zuku felt a drop of animosity suddenly leak through his mind. He absolutely _knew_ that one of them had killed his brother, and as he thought of it Chronos seemed just like the cold- hearted bastard type to do it. He glared icily at him, standing up to stare him down.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was low and hoarse, due to all his crying and not talking for a long time, yet he stood his ground. He would not let Chronos's frosty eyes or the way his mouth slowly folded up into a smirk scare him. Chronos fingered the whip he held in himself, having no intention of using it, but it was quite hard to know exactly what he was thinking.

"I'm here to ask you for… a favor." His words were slow and mysterious… a favor?

"If you're planning on asking me to hand Malon over to you than you've come to the wrong place at the wrong time. Malon isn't here; in fact I don't even know where the hell she is at all."

He looked at the boy strangle, if anything, Zuku swore Chronos was going to laugh, but he didn't. Instead his let out a small pitying chuckle, and replied quickly, "Not that of course. I know exactly where the girl is and I shall capture her as soon as I can. But… I may need a little… 'assistance' in doing so."

Zuku lifted his eyebrows. Chronos had to be kidding. Assistance? So in other words he was asking for help. Chronos actually wanted _his_ help? No. No, never. He couldn't help him and he wouldn't. Chronos was a beast, a manslayer, he would never even think about doing this. It was just impossible. Besides… he had killed Maku. How could Chronos expect him to help him when he had killed his brother Maku? "You've got to be kidding me? Me, help you Chronos? How could you ever expect me to help you after what you did to my brother?" He nearly screamed at him, but managed to keep his cool.

If Chronos's had ever, in any of his life, held a hint of confusion on his face, then Zuku had seen it then, but it disappeared quick enough. He shook his head in an amused state and looked at Zuku like he was the biggest fool in the world.

"It seems you've gotten your facts mixed up. Why in the world would you ever think I would waste my time killing that pathetic creature? He was going to die soon anyway so I don't see why you care. If you must know, then it was my brother, Zero, who killed him."

Zuku gapped, his mouth hanging wide open, but he closed it immediately. So it was Zero was it? He looked at Chronos suspiciously. Why would it even matter who had killed Maku? After all both of the brother's were the same, heartless. He couldn't trust Chronos. And he most certainly would not help him.

"I don't care. I don't care if it was you who killed him or if it was Zero. I'm not going to help you with anything and that's that." Chronos looked at him slyly.

"Now Zuku, are you sure that you want to make that decision? Don't you even want to hear my request?"

Zuku shook his head, "What don't you get about it Chronos? I don't want to hear it. I don't care what it is that you want from—"

"Zuku, Zuku, Zuku," Chronos interrupted, "And I thought that you were such a wise boy. Perhaps, since you don't seem to be listening, I should just tell you what it is that I want you to do for me. No?" Zuku was just quiet now, not knowing what to say to Chronos.

"That's what I thought." Chronos said, knowing he had won, "Now let me ask you Zuku, would you do anything you could in your power to bring back the life of Maku, even possibly… kill someone?" Zuku was startled at first at his question. Kill someone to bring back Maku's life? He could never. That was just so cruel! And yet… why did a part inside of him feel that he would indeed do that if it was option to him… he just couldn't or could he? It seemed so brutal and yet, something inside him told him that he would… yes he would kill someone to bring back Maku's life.

"Y-yes, I would." He said, still a little uncertain of all of this.

Chronos only smiled, like he knew of something he could use to trap Zuku. "Perfect… And so this is what I want you to do for me. I want you to kill _him_. I want you to kill Link." Zuku looked at Chronos with raised eyebrows. What in the heck… he wanted him to kill Link? What did Link have to do with anything? Besides, Link was a dear friend of his. He could never…

"No, I won't do it." Chronos only kept the same taunting expression on his face, baffling Zuku. He seemed to not even care that his request had been refused.

"But Zuku, I thought you said that you would even kill someone to bring back your brother's life, didn't you? I can bring back Maku's life if you wish for it. I can make it happen. You see, Malon is protected closely by Link, this I know… However, if we get Link out of the way than it will be easier to capture the girl…" Zuku was utterly confused.

"What does any of that have to do with this 'favor' you want me to do for you? I don't get it…" Chronos closed his eyes and shook his head impatiently, but his tone never changed.

"Fool, don't you see it? If it is easier to capture the girl than it will be easier to perform the ceremony. You do know what will happen if the ceremony is completed don't you? You do know that if the girl is the one than with power great enough one can make her resurrect anyone from the dead. Think about it Zuku, if she is brought to me than I have the power… to bring back to life anyone that I wish. All I ask of you is that you do for me this one simple favor and Maku will be brought back to life. I guarantee it." Zuku's eyes had widened in realization at what Chronos had just said. If he killed Link than he could bring Maku back to life. Simple as that. A life for a life… but, what of Malon? He just couldn't let her be harmed like that. He looked at Chronos with curious eyes, asking him.

"And what of Malon? What will happen to her?" Chronos leaned back against the door and looked at Zuku up and down once. He fingered his whip lightly and then said slowly to him, "She will not be harmed after the ceremony is completed. You have my word." His slow words seemed to crawl up Zuku's spine causing him to shiver frightfully. It felt as if a light feather was being drawn up and down his back and for a moment everything blurred, but then everything was back to normal.

He had to think on this… but he had no time. What could he do? Chronos had said that Maku would be alive. He had guaranteed it. And that Malon would not be harmed. He had given his word. After all… it was only a life for a life. At the moment he could not think of anything else to say but yes to Chronos. Yes, he would do it.

And so that is exactly what he had said.

Chronos grinned inwardly. "Good then, but first, we have some planning to do. Come quickly now." And so he took Zuku. And everything was just about to begin.

* * *

He had thanked the goddesses long before that he had Epona, and that the horse knew exactly where Lon Lon Ranch was. For if she did not than he might as have said good-bye to the girl. 

It was not long after he had found her that they had arrived at the ranch. Constantly he had been pushing his body to hers to keep her warm and trying to supply her with as much oxygen as he could in as many ways as he could possibly think of. But hardly any of it was working. He just knew that sooner or later, he might lose her… for good.

As soon as they arrived at the tall rusty gates of Lon Lon Ranch he completely lost his cool and hopped off Epona with out being even half-way in. Gently taking the girl's limp body in his arms he carried her to the closest part of the ranch he could see, the barn. He startled the cows as he came in, making them cry out frightfully and back into the far ends of their pens. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a bit of yellow, turning to realize it was actually a stack of hay. After carefully laying her down there he kneeled down, putting a shaky hand on her chest, and putting his ear to it to try and hear a heartbeat. Nothing. _'She must need some oxygen.'_

Link looked at her pale lifeless face. She was depending on him, she needed him. This had to work. Or else she would pay the price. He closed his eyes. He had done this once, he could do it again.

Slowly reaching forward he pressed his lips to hers. Her soft rosy lips. These however, were not the ones he remembered. When he had kissed her the first time it had been… magical… but now… now it felt as if he was kissing air. There was nothing kissing him back now.

She wasn't okay. He quickly breathed out his everything into her, giving her oxygen, trying to give her life. But it wasn't working. Nothing was working. He tried once more but to no avail. Nothing he did… absolutely nothing he did would work.

* * *

Again she was confused. Where was she now? He mother, everything that had just been in front of her face was gone, and now once again she was in the room that she had been in when she first arrived here. Maybe… maybe it had all just been a dream. Perhaps she was never really anywhere. Perhaps if she just lay down, held her breath and close her eyes than she would wake up and everything would be back to normal... 

…

Who was she kidding? Nothing had been or was going to be normal for a long time. She might as well just stop being stupid and wake up to the truth. Wake up to what was really going on around her.

She stopped her thinking for a moment to glance to a bright light to the side of her. That was odd, why hadn't she noticed it before? She slowly found herself walking towards it, nearly blinded by its rays. She could feel a frigid, cols air beginning to wrap itself around her suddenly and before she knew it the ground had disappeared from beneath her feet and she was falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

And then she knew what was happening. She finally knew what was happening.

* * *

At first she felt nothing and then pain. Pain grabbed hold of her whole body, digging its sharp fingers into her skin, muscles and every bone she had. She felt heat and that she was sweating a cold sweat and breathing heavily. She couldn't move, she was paralyzed and her whole body was aching with pain. She couldn't escape it. 

"Malon! Malon! Are you all right?" It was a voice… she was so tired of constantly hearing these voices and not knowing who they were. She saw nothing at first and then it all faded into something green, with blue and a hint of yellow and… wait… she knew who this was…

"L-Link…?" She could hardly speak and as soon as she did she felt a new wave of pain come over her body. She gasped, startled at this and gripped hard at the cloth she was lying on.

"Shh, Malon you can't move. Don't speak. You're going to be all right, I promise." She suddenly felt comforted in hearing his calm voice. How could he stay so calm? She just didn't get it.

She felt dizzy as he put a cool cloth on her head and opened her mouth to slip some kind of potion in it. He was taking her blood soaked arms and bandaging them up and now he turned her over and was putting some sort of stinging solution on. She felt all her muscled tense up as he did so but still… it just felt so right. She didn't know why he would want to help her but he just seemed so determined to do so… so determined to help her out. He truly did have a good heart. He truly did… she thought no more past that pointed. She fainted.

* * *

Link sighed. Malon had been sleeping for hours now. And he wasn't so sure if she was going to wake up again. He kept feeling her pulse and she was indeed alive but still… 

He had been shocked when she had woken up hours before and actually spoken to him. Back then he had been so sure that she was dead and had been extremely surprised when he saw her awaken so suddenly. But he was grateful… that Farore had decided to spare her life and had not taken it away. He was grateful that his Malon was back with him.

_'I guess I should have expected it… she is a very strong girl after all…'_

Link closed his eyes for a moment, opening them back up, however, as soon as he heard her stir. He perked up, anxious to talk and see her again. He could see her eyes flutter open and her face become full of life, even through her sick state, She shifted slightly in her position and clenched her teeth in pain, but managed to get out a weak smile, "Link…" she closed her eyes again for a moment the opened them and said in a pained voice, "It… hurts so bad…" She seemed to be using everything in her power just to stay up and talk to him.

"Malon you need you rest. It's the only way you'll get your energy back." He replied softy. She closed her eyes and sighed. After a few minutes she opened them again, only this time trying to sit up, she clenched her teeth and slowly put her arms at her sides as she tried to support herself. She was using everything she had in her body to do this, and he just couldn't stop her. She was almost there… almost… and she had it, finally she had it. She was panting as she laid back up against the hay stack for support to keep her up.

Link looked in her eyes, surprised at what she had down and then he frowned. "Malon… don't do that, you could hurt yourself…" She stared at him expressionlessly and then turned away, wrapping her hands around her knees.

"Why would you eve care Link? After what I said to you… you should hate me now."

He looked at her sadly and shook his head, "Why should I hate you? I could never hate you. Besides I know you didn't mean it." She laughed at him bitterly.

"Didn't mean it? Didn't mean it? I meant every word of it. I hate you Link. Just get it through your thick head." Link only smiled.

"No you don't. Just stop fighting yourself. I know you're not telling the truth." She looked at him like he had gone crazy. "What are you talking about? How many times do I have to tell you? It's the truth. I do hate you." Link was quiet this time and looked up at the ceiling, unreadable sorts of emotions running throughout his face. "Tell me, do you remember how you got hurt?" Malon was silent, looking straight ahead, right through Link, as she tried her hardest to remember what had happened.

"I remember my mother, she asked me if I wanted to come back and then I was falling and…" She stopped suddenly, looking at him as she noticed that she was rambling on, making no sense at all."

"Malon please go on." Link said softly with sympathy in his eyes.

"I don't… it's just… I'm sorry, I can't remember anything that happened right now, I just can't…" Link nodded in understanding and lay down on his back on the hay. He motioned with his hand for her to lie down next to him and closed his eyes. She did so slowly saying, "Maybe I'll be able to remember what happened if… I first get some sleep." He nodded his head then opened one eye. "I believe so too." He then lie there silently and listened to her as she slowly fell asleep. And he knew then, that everything that had happened was destiny and it had all happened for a reason, no matter what that may be.

And before he went to sleep that night he could have sworn he heard an angel's voice speak to him.

"Thank you… for saving me Link."

**To Be Continued…**

Whoop! Another chapter done! Finally! Sorry it took me so long to get this one up. It was originally going to be longer but I decided to cut short on it this time.

Anyway I'd like to give a BIG thanks to anyone that has reviewed for the last chapter and all the other chapters before, because all of you made my day. I had a point where I wasn't going to continue this but I read some of the reviews I got and I just couldn't leave you guys waiting. I just want to say thank you all. Please review for this chapter, I love you guys!

Okay now the review responses (yes no preview this time :-P)

gamesrcool- Thanks a lot! You made my day **AND** you get 2 cookies and 5 points for being the **ONLY** person that voted!

xXHeroine of TimeXx- Thank you so much for reviewing! I'm glad that you like it!

Paper Bear- I love your story a lot! It's so much better then I could do, but I'm glad you like mine and thank you!

Tinkies- I love the new name, and thank you, your reviews are always so nice!

Chibi-Kazooie- Haha, I love your name as well and thank you for the review, I'm sorry I had to kill Maku but it will get better in the end I promise!

serenitythefaierikin- Thanks a lot for your review! Yours was one that forced me to go on! Beware though, I rarely update as some know so you might end up having to hunt me down sometime, lol

Thank you guys so much for reviewing, remember the more reviews you get the more cookies you earn hands out cookies to people who just reviewed I'll have to restock soon. Anyway thank you guys again it means a lot.

REVIEW!

_:chel bel:_


	10. Betrayal

Not really much to say… yea this chapter may be rushed and yes it may be sloppy, but I'll fix it and stuff. This will be one of the shorter chapters so yeah… Enjoy it and stuff…

Disclaimer- See other Chapters

**Chapter Ten: Betrayal**

Betrayal is a deadly thing. It can tear families apart and is usually the start of more bad to come. When betrayed, horrible things can happen to a person, and these things always seem to destroy them inside. Soon after betrayal, anger takes place which often leads to hate. After hate, revenge is needed, but even this is not enough. It is not enough until someone is killed. Someone must always be killed in the end.

---

It wasn't exactly that Zuku hated Link. No, it wasn't that at all. He wasn't at all fond of this idea of Chronos's; to kill Link. It hadn't occurred to him how cruel this plan was right away. But when it did, he realized that if he did do this than he'd be _betraying_ Link. He could never do this. Link trusted him with his life and he was not ready to let his friend down.

He decided that he would formulate a plan of some sort. Whenever they got to this place Chronos was taking them he would figure something out. He didn't know what yet but he was smart and he knew he could do this.

Zuku looked up at Chronos and tried to figure out where he could be leading them. They had been on this mountain, this deathly cold mountain, for at least an hour now and neither had spoken a word to the other. Zuku squinted his eyes, trying to see through the snow that seemed to be blowing everywhere. The higher they went the colder it seemed to get, and he was surprised to see that Chronos had not once shivered and showed any other sign of being cold. The boy pulled his cloak tighter around himself and finally decided to break the silence.

"W-where are we going?" Chronos looked back behind him at Zuku, his face and eyes looking a pale blue color.

"We are going to wherever I lead us," he noticed Zuku shivering, "are you so cold that you wish to not go?" Zuku was silent trying to control his voice to make him sound normal.

"No… I just wanted to know where. Why aren't you cold anyway?"

"My power's source is of the cold. It doesn't bother me at all. In fact, right now I am unimaginably powerful."

"Oh." Zuku said simply. So this was it, the cold was where his power came from. After years of trying to track him down, he was just learning this about Chronos. He laughed inwardly at himself. He and Maku truly were foolish.

A few moments later Chronos finally stopped. Zuku stopped shortly after him. He looked down and noticed a large shadow at both their feet. What the… His gaze slowly turned upward and his eyes began to widened as he saw the large building, no, ice building that stood before them. Chronos turned to him, "This is my… 'home' I guess one would say." With that he turned on his heels and strode into his home. Zuku followed behind him quickly after and was amazed at what he saw inside.

The walls, the floor, the ceiling, almost everything in here was made up of ice. To the left there was a large set of stairs that lead to somewhere upstairs that was shrouded in darkness. He noticed various paintings around the room, some on the chairs, on the floor, the tables and hanging on the walls. Most seemed very worn out compared to others. Above him were chandeliers that looked to be most expensive, but they seemed to all be frozen over. He looked at Chronos who had already seated himself in one of the chairs up ahead. He carefully, trying not to slip on the ice, went to Chronos and stood next to the chair.

"W-what are we here for now?" He asked quietly. Chronos turned to him.

"Sit." He motioned to a chair, and Zuku did as instructed. Chronos only stared at him for a moment then smirked. "You, Zuku, have been plotting to betray me, have you not?"

Zuku could feel the blood rushing up to his face, and looked down, hoping that Chronos would not notice. How could he have known? How did Chronos find out? "Betray you… no, of course not. I promise I would not do anything like that. Maku… he must be alive. I wouldn't ever—"

"Stop it! Now!" He looked back up, alarmed and saw the fire in Chronos's angry eyes. "How _dare_ you lie to me you worthless scum!" He stood and raised his hand, looking ready to smack Zuku, but he slowly lowered it, and Zuku could see his eyes become calm and confident once again and the corners of his mouth folded up into a sinister smile.

"I think I know just what to do to you, Zuku… stay here." Zuku watched as he turned and walked off into another room. Zuku looked around and decided that this would probably be the time to examine things.

He got up from the chair he was sitting in and walked around just looking at things. He then heard something break beneath his feet. He looked down nervously and noticed that it was one of the paintings and he had broken part of the frame. He bent down to look at it. This was one of the more tattered ones. There was dust all over it and it seemed to have rips everywhere, making it hard to tell just what the picture had been of. Judging by the frame, the picture it had held must've been very important, but if that was so then why did it look so beat up? Looking more closely at it he noticed the rips it had didn't seem as if they had been done on accident, it fact it seemed that they had been very intentional.

"What the…" He looked up, making sure that Chronos was no where in sight, and then turned his attention back on the painting. He wiped the dust from it, trying to get a better view of it. He noticed that it still was a little hard to look since there were little blotches here and there. However, he had already been taken by curiosity and carefully began piecing the parts back together as best he could to see what the picture had been of. He could see that it was a man… but he still could not tell of whom. He looked at it again and finally decided that it was useless. He stood to go back to his chair but out of the corner of his eye noticed a small engraving in the lower right hand corner of the frame. _'Why didn't I see that before…_?' He kneeled back down and wiped his finger over it before reading: _Zero, age 12. _His eyes widened, as he dropped down the frame. Zero… why would he have a painting of Zero in here? And why was it so torn up and—he stopped and turned. He heard footsteps.

He quickly fixed the picture trying to get it to look as it had been before and hurried to his seat. Chronos soon came into view, holding a small bottle of some sort. Before looking directly at Zuku he eyed the room a little, to see if anything had been touched or put out of place. Zuku shifted slightly, hoping that he wouldn't notice. Whether he did or not Zuku wouldn't know, because he soon turned his attention to Zuku and hissed, "Come here Zuku, I have a…'gift' for you."

Zuku cautiously got up and walked to Chronos with a scared look on his face. Whatever this was… he had a bad feeling about this. As he reached Chronos he was handed the bottle. He looked at the deep red liquid inside. What was this? He looked back up at Chronos.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot. Drink it." Zuku looked down at the liquid and then slowly put it to his lips and swallowed it all. It wasn't until he saw Chronos smile again that he realized that he had done something he would soon regret.

"Good, now sit down, and let's talk." Chronos said in his snake-like voice. Zuku did as commanded. "Very obedient…excellent. Now Zuku, do you have any idea of what I just gave you was?" Zuku shook his head. "Well then, I'll tell you. It was poison." Zuku's eyes widened.

"Y-you poisoned me? But I—"

"Be quiet now. Let me explain. The poison I gave you was a rare kind called Zetima. This poison will kill you within 7 days, a week. Now, what I want you to do within that week, Zuku, is to kill Link and lead Malon to me. Now if you do decide to do this and you are successful, then I have the cure and I will give it to you. However, if you decide to betray me, then you will die on the seventh day at noon exactly. It is your decision Zuku." He looked at Zuku whose eyes were still wide with shock and fear. Chronos stood back up.

"Come, there's something I have to give you." Zuku stood immediately and followed Chronos as he walked into a dark room. Chronos lit some blue fire so he was able to see and Zuku soon noticed that this was a room of weapons. Big and small, strong and weak. There were swords, axes, bows and arrows, whips, spears, lances, knives and other things that he had never even seen before.

He stood there in the middle of the room, amazed at everything here, while Chronos went off to look at something else. _'All of this has been made with such care… and yet it looks as if none of it has ever been used…' _He zoned off for a moment then noticed Chronos coming back his way with something wrapped in a cloth. He handed it to Zuku and Zuku looked at it curiously.

"The weapon I have given you is what you will use to kill Link. When you stab him the blood that gets on this will immediately dry up and will not come off, that way, I will know that you actually did it. Do not try to fool me on this Zuku. I will know if the blood is his or not so I wouldn't kill another to bluff if I was you."

Zuku nodded grimly in understanding and slowly took off the cloth covering the blade. It was a very fine crafted blade, with many engravings of the same monstrous beast on the handle. So this was it. This was the weapon he would use to kill Link with… he lightly rubbed his fingers over it. Yes, he could tell. One stab and this would end his life. He looked back up at Chronos who was already looking at him. Chronos turned away and motioned for him to follow.

"Now I'll get you off of this mountain so that you may begin."

---

He was staring at her again, and she was very aware of this. She shifted lightly on her bed and pretended to take a sudden interest in her tea. He stared at her for a bit longer before asking her once again.

"Are you ready to talk now?"

She immediately shook her head and he nodded in understanding.

Link leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling. It was now daylight and he and Malon had been in here for pretty much the whole night. All this time he had been trying his hardest to get Malon to speak to him about what had happened but she just didn't want to say. He closed his eyes now.

"Just tell me when you're ready…"

She nodded although she knew he couldn't see and took a quick sip of tea. How could she tell him this? She was certain that her story was just so unbelievable. She wasn't even sure if she believed what had happened herself. She looked at Link once more. He was always so kind to her, perhaps he would understand, but then again… she sighed. He opened an eye and stared at her.

"Something bothering you?" She shook her head.

"No… I don't think so…" There was a moment of silence and she averted her eyes downwards. "I just don't understand… how people could ever be so cruel." The room went silent again and when she looked back up she saw Link staring at her, right into her eyes.

"Keep in mind Malon… these _are not_ people we're dealing with. In fact I don't even know what they are. But keep in mind this will not go on, I will do everything in my power to prevent them from hurting you." She stared at him for a second and was about to say something but instead took a sip of her tea.

"How do you think…Zuku will react once he finds out?" She asked very quietly. She heard Link sigh and knew that that probably meant that his reaction probably would not be very good. When they had came into the house they had seen the corpse of Maku just laying on the couch. She swore she could've fainted right there. The house had smelt of death, just as the room that her mother had taken her to did. Link had quickly removed her from the presence of it all and taken her to her room, telling her to rest and that he'd go bury Maku. She hadn't rested at all though. All this time she had been up, just trying to imagine what would happen next.

There was a light touch on her shoulder and she looked up to see Link holding out a hand to her. "You look like you need some fresh air; let's… go for a walk." She nodded and hesitantly put her hand in his and allowed him to help her up.

They walked outside in silence, both thinking of the same things. Malon sighed and she could see Link staring at her out of the corner of her eye. It was time. She… would tell him now.

"I'm not really sure how it happened…" she began. He quickly stopped walking along with her and began to listen intently as they both sat down. She took a breath before continuing. "But… all I know is I woke up and I was in this very strange place. I didn't know what had happened to me, I mean, I didn't even recognize myself. I was just stranded in this dark place and it was just confusing. Next thing I know I'm in some totally different room with this man telling me to wait for my mother… I could hardly believe what I heard, but then I just got so sleepy. When I woke up I saw her… there was this woman, whom I later discovered was my mom, just looming over me. Of course I didn't believe her when she told me who she was at first but then I realized it; this was my mother, standing right in front of me. She then went on to explain that I wasn't really dead, and that I had died before my time and she was summoned here to help me understand all of this. That I was in the Land of the Undead… a place where people go when they are dead, and yet not dead.

She paused and looked up at the clear sky, listening to the birds chirp about happily.

"Go on… I want to hear the rest of it." Link urged. She nodded.

"Before, my memory had been lost and she told me she would restore it for me. Once she did I remember getting scared and afraid, all the horrible things had been restored back to my mind. Afterwards she took me to a place, a very frightening place at that, and told me…all about what had happened to her, how Chronos and Zero had taken her away, and how everyone thought she had passed away wasn't true at all. She told me about Maku and Zuku and how she knew… she knew about everything that was happening to me and that she was so sorry that she couldn't be of any real help. And then… she gave me a choice… she asked me whether or not I wanted to go back to earth to live the rest of my life, or if I wanted to stay with her. At first I didn't know what to do. There was so much going on here that I just wanted to get away from… and I had a chance there to stay with my mother. I just didn't know what to do. I almost stayed there, but then I realized if I didn't go back there were so many things that I wouldn't get to do and I just didn't want that to happen. So I made my decision and I decided to come back here."

She looked at Link and for a moment they just gazed into the others eyes. She broke the stare. "How then, did you get all those bruises?" Link asked curiously.

She shrugged. "That's just the one thing I can't remember. Yes, she restored my memory, but I just don't remember any of that." He looked thoughtful for a moment. Maku had been found dead… and Malon had been injured… before all of this Zuku had told him that he left Maku with Malon. Perhaps there was a connection...

He turned back to Malon to see her staring up at the sky. She was silent for a moment then looked down at her hands. "I'm just… so scared Link." Link nodded.

"I understand that… but you have no reason to be, I promise I'll protect you… and that's a promise I don't intend to break." She looked back at Link gratefully… so this was her protector was it?

He stood and stretched. "You should go back inside, and this time actually get some rest." She nodded.

"You're… probably right."

"Of course I am." He held out his hand and she took it, allowing him to escort her back inside the house.

---

Yay! I finished :) Didn't think I would but what'd ya know? Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this and stuff… hehe so the plot thickens. Personally I think this was the best chapter written yet. Oh and **I didn't check over it so please don't beat me up too hard if there's something that sounds weird because I'll fix it later**. I'm also going on vacation tomorrow (7/2/05) so I'm not going to be able to update until the twenty first. Please review and leave all your comments! Flamers meanies Constructive Criticizers cool people.

Too lazy to do review comments but thanks everyone!

**REVIEW!**

_:chel:bel:_


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